Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic refuses to write off Manchester City without Carlos Tevez. An over-reliance on Tévez is something Mancini has had to address this week with neither Mario Balotelli or Edin Dzeko boasting the greatest of goalscoring records this season.
Nonetheless, Vidic insists he is taking nothing for granted.
"It is not an advantage for us if Tévez is not fit," he told The Times. "They still have quality players up front and we never underestimate anyone. Dzeko is a goalscorer who looks to play in the box and get on the end of crosses, whereas Tévez likes to play on the ball and come deep.
"Sometimes it can happen that you come up against a great player but the guy on the bench, in reserve, with the hunger to score a goal and show his ability can be more difficult to keep quiet than the than the top class player everyone is speaking about.
"That's why I always approach a game by thinking that my next opponent is the best player in the world. And for me Dzeko is now the best player in the world. That's my mentality. It's not about 'Oh Tévez doesn't play; now it's an easy job'. No.
"Dzeko is the best player in the world at the moment in my eyes. I'm just thinking that they want to play against me and score and I must give everything to stop them. Every team that plays against Manchester United comes onto the pitch and says 'This is my time'. For example when I was at red Star Brigade and I played against the biggest teams in Europe and said 'Oh this is my time; I want to show how good I am'.
"So that's how I prepare because I know there'll be someone out there who is 110 per cent determined to score against me."
