Dutch striker van Persie is set to miss six to eight weeks with a sprained knee and that could leave Spain midfielder Mata, who joined from Chelsea for £37.1 million ($61.2m, 44.8m euros) in January playing a more central role.
Since his arrival Mata has mainly been employed in the right flank to enable Moyes to also accommodate van Persie and Wayne Rooney.
“There isn’t any club in Europe or the world who wouldn’t want Robin van Persie playing centre-forward for them and for us it’s a massive miss,” Moyes told a news conference on Monday.
“He changed the Champions League game (scoring a hat-trick in a 3-0 second leg win at Old Trafford before injuring himself as United secured a 3-2 aggregate last 16 victory over Greek side Olympiakos) with the goals he scored but I’ve got to say that Juan Mata came to play two or three different positions.
“I think that Juan’s come in and played very well on Saturday. He’s done well in all the games but on Saturday he was closer to scoring himself and maybe should have on a couple of occasions,” added Moyes of a victory where Rooney netted twice.
Manuel Pellegrini’s City remain the side most likely to depose Chelsea at the top of the table and the trip to Old Trafford is the first of their three games in hand on Jose Mourinho’s side.
City’s 5-0 demolition of Fulham on Saturday left them six points behind the London club in third place, with Liverpool two points above them having played two games more.
The League Cup winners therefore remain in control of their own destiny and goalkeeper Joe Hart says the players are not afraid to admit that the title is within their grasp. “The fans, players, and staff -- everyone needs to pull each other through if we want to get over the line first,” he said.
City remain without leading scorer Sergio Aguero due to a hamstring complaint, but captain Vincent Kompany is back in contention after missing the Fulham game through suspension.
City have won on their last two visits to Old Trafford and inflicted a demoralising 4-1 defeat upon United when the teams last met at the Etihad Stadium in September.
Meanwhile, Arsenal will look to put the 6-0 defeat against Chelsea behind them when they host Swansea City who are desperate for win. Newcastle host sixth placed Everton.
Since his arrival Mata has mainly been employed in the right flank to enable Moyes to also accommodate van Persie and Wayne Rooney.
“There isn’t any club in Europe or the world who wouldn’t want Robin van Persie playing centre-forward for them and for us it’s a massive miss,” Moyes told a news conference on Monday.
“He changed the Champions League game (scoring a hat-trick in a 3-0 second leg win at Old Trafford before injuring himself as United secured a 3-2 aggregate last 16 victory over Greek side Olympiakos) with the goals he scored but I’ve got to say that Juan Mata came to play two or three different positions.
“I think that Juan’s come in and played very well on Saturday. He’s done well in all the games but on Saturday he was closer to scoring himself and maybe should have on a couple of occasions,” added Moyes of a victory where Rooney netted twice.
Manuel Pellegrini’s City remain the side most likely to depose Chelsea at the top of the table and the trip to Old Trafford is the first of their three games in hand on Jose Mourinho’s side.
City’s 5-0 demolition of Fulham on Saturday left them six points behind the London club in third place, with Liverpool two points above them having played two games more.
The League Cup winners therefore remain in control of their own destiny and goalkeeper Joe Hart says the players are not afraid to admit that the title is within their grasp. “The fans, players, and staff -- everyone needs to pull each other through if we want to get over the line first,” he said.
City remain without leading scorer Sergio Aguero due to a hamstring complaint, but captain Vincent Kompany is back in contention after missing the Fulham game through suspension.
City have won on their last two visits to Old Trafford and inflicted a demoralising 4-1 defeat upon United when the teams last met at the Etihad Stadium in September.
Meanwhile, Arsenal will look to put the 6-0 defeat against Chelsea behind them when they host Swansea City who are desperate for win. Newcastle host sixth placed Everton.