Somewhat unsurprisingly, given their track records, both Alex Ferguson and Roberto Mancini have played some mind games ahead of tomorrow’s Manchester derby.Mancini has labelled arch-rivals United as title favourites ahead of the top-of-the-table clash no doubt a tactic to motivate his players.On the other side of the fence, Ferguson has questioned the number of penalties City are awarded at home an obvious attempt to get inside the head of tomorrow’s referee.Regardless of these efforts to gain the upper hand, I think the Premier League is a two-horse race between these two teams.City have the home advantage tomorrow and you can never underestimate the importance of that.They have quality all over the pitch, as do United, so it should be a very interesting game.I don’t think either side has really hit top form this season.I mean, United have probably conceded more goals this season than the last two put together!That will certainly be a real concern for Ferguson because when Nemanja Vidic is absent they tend to struggle defensively.Elsewhere in the Premier League, Chelsea face out-of-sorts Sunderland in a must-win clash at the Stadium of Light before heading to Japan for the Club World Cup.The Champions League winners will miss 11 days of domestic action to represent Europe in the competition next week.Chelsea enter in the semi-finals where they will face the Mexican side Monterrey or Korean team Ulsan Hyundai on December 13.For the club’s new coach, Rafa Benitez, the tournament represents an opportunity to kick-start his reign at the club.Winning the competition would certainly give everyone at Chelsea a major boost, although they will be missing a few key players like John Terry due to injury.I was delighted to see Celtic overcome their doubters to advance to the last 16 of the Champions League after defeating Spartak Moscow 2-1 in midweek.It’s a credit to the players and their manager, Neil Lennon, because they haven’t got the same financial clout as their rivals but have shown what can be achieved when a team works hard and sticks together.I see my old West Ham team-mate Harry Redknapp has applauded his players' decision to cancel their Christmas party with the London side bottom of the Premier League.Back in my day we would always have a get-together at the pub and have a bit to drink but times have changed and players have more responsibility these days.Nowadays players get paid a helluva lot of money and have to be respectful to fans especially when, like QPR, the team is struggling badly.The spotlight today is a lot greater today than it was in my days, that’s for sure.