Wednesday, 10th March 2010 – KO: 19:45

It has been over two weeks since we played at Old Trafford and what a game to come back on – it doesn’t get much better than this.

I have watched a replay of the first match a couple of times now and I must say, we can consider ourselves quite fortunate to be taking a lead into this game. With a bit more luck and a bit more composure in front of goal, Milan could have blown us away by half-time.

However, we rode our luck before coming back very strongly in the second half. When we went 3-1 up, it looked very much like this tie was as good as over but Seedorf’s clever little backheel in the closing stages gave Milan some chance that they can overturn the deficit.

It is going to be very interesting to see how Milan start in this one. They started extremely brightly in the first leg and I think we were a bit surprised by that. They do need to win here tonight and probably need to score at least three goals in the process (although a 2-0 win would also take them through) and so they won’t be able to mess around too much, they will need to attack.

If the first leg showed one thing it is that attack is their strength however so I would not say that they face mission impossible in terms of getting the goals they require. The problem they face is getting those goals whilst keeping us out at the same time. I simply cannot see that happening and sooner or later we are going to score a goal and if we get one, we could get two as the Milan heads start to drop.

I think Valencia is going to be our key player here tonight. He made a big difference when he came on in the first leg and the little triangle between Berby, Valencia and Rooney has brought several goals recently (I do hope that Berby will play alongside Rooney here tonight).

At the back, we have Rio and Vidic and whilst I am not filled with confidence that they can keep Milan out for 90 minutes, if they can keep them out for 60 minutes, it would probably be enough for Milan to start getting desperate and frustrated, opening gaps for us to exploit in the process.

Evra is a cert for the left and it only remains to be seen whether Rafael is chosen on the right again. He was given a bit of a torrid time in the first leg by Ronaldinho and I do wonder if young Rafael was a little star-struck. Ronaldinho must have been a hero for the young Da Silva’s when they were growing up in Brazil. To find himself actually playing against him must have been a bit surreal for the lad.

Personally, with Valencia on the right as opposed to Nani then I think the right side defence is better covered so I see no reason why Rafael shouldn’t be chosen again here tonight.

The midfield is going to be interesting. Fergie might go for the five man midfield but with Carrick suspended, Scholes playing the whole match on Saturday and Giggs still injured (as well as Anderson), options are somewhat limited.

I can see a good old 4-4-2 with Valencia, Fletcher, Scholes and Park with Fergie looking to bring Scholes off after 60 minutes or so to be replaced by Gibson.

Berby and Rooney up front.

Fergie was bullish after the first leg and insisted that we can make all the goal permutations and their implications irrelevant by just winning this game but it remains to be seen if the team can match Fergie’s warcry on the pitch. Personally, I think we can. Some of our best performances and results of the season have come in the games where nerves and pressure were supposed to get the better of us.

However, I am always wary of backing a team that doesn’t actually need to win so I am more tempted to go for a more neutral market in this one.

I think a lot depends on the first ten minutes of this game. We do have a habit of conceding early goals in Europe but we could also come out all guns blazing and score one of our own early on. If either team scores early then anything could happen here tonight as the whole dynamic of the tie would change.

If neither team scores early then I can see a low-scoring affair. It is hard to imagine Milan keeping us out for 90 minutes but we have to remember that we don’t actually need to score at all.

What you often find in these two legged ties is that both games rarely follow the same pattern. Everyone is expecting another goal fest here tonight but neither team really wants to get into that kind of game. Milan are looking for 2-0, we are looking for 1-0.

For this reason, I am going to go for the Under bet here because I think it offers some value.

The bet is 2 points Under 2.5 Goals @ 2.00 with Bet365.

Review to follow…

Saturday, 6th March 2009 – KO: 17:30

When we met Wolves at our place just before Christmas last year, Mick McCarthy all but conceded defeat before a ball was kicked by naming a drastically changed side. We won 3-0. Wolves were handed a £25,000 suspended fine for effectively breaching Premier League rules.

I think most people understood what McCarthy did but my own feeling was that it could set a dangerous precedent and the Premier League were right to impose some from of punishment (even if it was only a token gesture).

I don’t expect any such capitulation from Wolves in this one though. Three months on and Wolves find themselves very much in the relegation battle Mick McCarthy was so desperate to avoid.

The League is so congested down there at the moment that a point or three here and there can catapult a relegation threatened team into lower mid-division in no time.

What will encourage them as well is the fact that we seem to have a little bit of an injury crisis again at the moment and a massive Champions League match coming up against AC Milan.

McCarthy will be hoping that Fergie and at least a couple of the players will have one eye on this match and take this one lightly.

He might hope for that but if there’s one person who will not be taking this one lightly it is Fergie. We have some very tough matches ahead of us and it is highly likely that we will drop points in those and so it is imperative that we go for the jugular in the ones we would normally be expected to win with comparative ease.

With all due respect to Wolves, this is one of those games.

I expect Fergie will put out the strongest possible team he can for this one with a view to getting a healthy lead fairly early so that he can bring a few off as soon as possible.

I think the team will be Van Der Sar, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Nani, Fletcher, Carrick, Valencia, Rooney, Berbatov.

If we can get ahead to the tune of 2-0, he will bring off Valencia, put on Park, move Nani to the right with Park taking up the left. Bring off Rooney and put on Diouf. Ferdinand might also be replaced by Brown (I believe Evans picked up a knock in midweek).

How’s THAT for a prediction?

(If that comes true, I will eat my socks live on Youtube – I have to keep my hat because of a previous promise I made regarding Arsenal not winning the League!)

The worst thing that can happen here is for Wolves to take the lead as that could scupper a lot of plans. The best thing that could happen is for us to take a 2-0 lead before half-time.

I fancy that we can pull off the latter and that the changes Fergie will make at that point will not weaken the team to the degree that we end up conceding a goal.

We should win this one and it is a case of by how many as far as I’m concerned.

However, I am going to go back into the Corner market for this one. Games between us tend to have a lot of corners and I see no reason why this should change here tonight.

The bet is 2 points over 11 Corner @ 1.85 with Bet365.

Well, as half-expected Rooney didn’t play a part in this one and Berbatov was chosen to play upfront alone and I must admit, he was quite a revelation up there on his own and probably did more chasing around in this game than the rest of his United career put together. Having said that, there has been a bit more donkey work from Berby in recent games so maybe the penny has finally dropped that he can’t just rely on teammates to do it all for him.

Anyway, Wolves made things very tough for us here and if anything, they had the better of the chances. Vokes’ miss in the dying moments in particular will give him nightmares for the rest of his life should Wolves eventually get relegated by one point.

However, with very little going our way (even one of the linesmen must have had a tenner on Wolves because he gave us nothing), we had to rely on a solid defence and one or two lapses aside, the re-united Rio and Vidic dealt with everything very well and it is good to see them back for the most crucial stage of the season.

The difference in the end was the class of Scholes. I watched a replay on ESPN and Chris Waddle said that the Wolves defender unfortunately slipped as Scholes was lining up his shot but I don’t think that was the case at all. Scholes dropped him on his backside and committed the other Wolves defender with a great little shimmy before driving past the diving keeper.

Diouf got an hour in this game and after bigging him up for quite some time now, I was disappointed with him really. He just seemed to be trying too hard to me. For the reserves, he is cool and calm. The step up into the pressure cooker atmosphere of the first team is proving to be a little bit too much for him at the moment.

Hopefully Fergie can have a word with him because I do think he’s got it (his movement to create space for himself was brilliant) but he just needs to relax more and stop beating himself up after every missed opportunity.

As for the bet. Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong. There were just six corners in the whole game which must be the worst corner count of the season (we only managed four ourselves).

Still, the name of the game today was three points and whilst we rode our luck on occasion (helped by the fact that Wolves have been woeful in front of goal all season) we achieved that objective to go back to the top of the table.

Sunday, 28th February 2009 – KO: 15:00

This of course is now the third time we have played Villa this season and it has to be said that so far they have had the upper hand and they will really fancy their chances. Any notion that Fergie might mess about with the team here and play a few youngsters is nonsense as far as I’m concerned.

I think we will have to be at our very best to win this one.

The one thing I am not expecting here is a goal-fest. Our two League games have produced just three goals between them and Villa and United are officially the two meanest defences in the Premier League.

Add to this the fact that there have been very few goals scored in any of our Wembley appearances in recent years and I think it all adds up to another low scoring affair here today.

As to the team Fergie will pick, I can see nothing other than a full strength line-up.

Van Der Sar, Rafael, Brown, Vidic, Evra, Valencia, Fletcher, Carrick, Park, Berbatov and Rooney.

The big decision is the formation – will he go with Scholes and drop Berby for a 4-5-1 formation?

I think Villa will go with the 4-5-1 formation with Agbonlahor causing havoc alone upfront so we might need bodies in the middle of the park so that we don’t get over-run so it might be that Fergie goes with the 4-5-1 too.

I don’t really have much more to say about this match, I think it is going to be a close one and the first goal could be crucial. Villa have already proved that they have what it takes to beat us but if we’re firing and fully focused thenwe certainly have what it takes to beat them.

I’m going to keep my betting on this one to a minimum and bet only on the belief that this will be a low scoring affair.

The bet is 2 points UNDER 2.5 goals @ 1.92 with Bet365.

Fergie sprang his usual surprise by leaving Rooney on the bench and going with Berbatov and Owen up front for this one. That Van Der Sar was replaced in goal by Kuszcak was less of a surprise. The rest of the team was pretty much as expected although Evans was restored to the centre of defence alongside Vidic.

The omission of Rooney obviously raised a few eyebrows but the partnership of Owen and Berbatov worked well while it lasted.

The game was barely three minutes old when Agbonlahor found himself through with only Vidic for company, he ran quite some distance with the ball with Vidic doing his usual grabbing and mauling and this eventually led to Vidic pulling Agbonlahor’s shirt and dragging him to the ground in the penalty area.

The referee immediately blew for the penalty but did not show Vidic a card. Having now seen this incident several times, I do believe that he was right to do so. Agbonlahor never really shook Vidic off and at the moment that Vidic pulled him down, Agbonlahor had started to go back to his outside and, technically, at that precise point, was going away from goal.

Milner scored the penalty to givehis team a dream start.

The lead didn’t last long however after some great work from Berbatov saw him dispossess the usually excellent Richard Dunne. Dunne was not to be outdone (!?) though and got back to tackle Berbatov in kind. His tackle only saw the ball come infield in the general direction of the ever-ready Michael Owen who did not need a second invitation and swept the ball first time into the far corner.

From this point onwards, Manchester United just seemed to get stronger and stronger whilst Villa’s grip on the game seemed to be slipping.

Just before half-time, Michael Owen found himself through on goal again but just as he might have been about to pull the trigger, he felt his hamstring and that was his game over. Desperately bad luck for Michael Owen but it did see Rooney take to the field as his replacement.

Much of what Rooney did was not great to be quite honest. He was giving the ball away and generally found little success with anything he tried to do.

However, he was not to be denied as he scored with his head (again) in the 74th minute from another great cross from Valencia.

Villa piled on the pressure in the closing stages but could not quite make the breakthrough and so we ran out 2-1 winners and the first trophy of 2010 is now in Manchester United’s cabinet.

Martin O’Neill was not happy at the end of the game because the referee did not send off Vidic and I had to laugh when I saw one or two interviews with the players who felt that the incident was the “turning point” in the game.

Quite how an incident that happens in the third minute can be classed as a turning point is beyond me. Especially when that turning point results in you taking the lead!

Tuesday, 23rd February 2010 – KO: 20:00

A highly unusual Premier League on Tuesday evening due to the fact that we have the Carling Cup Final on Sunday and this in itself is a bone of contention for me. Aston Villa (our Carling Cup Final opponents) do not have a midweek game but they have played one LESS game than us in the Premier League. Surely if anyone should be playing tonight, it should be them?

Oh well, if there is one saving grace about this fixture it is that the United players have the opportunity to vent some of the frustrations they must be feeling after the miserable performance against Everton on Saturday.

The bookies are in no doubt that United are going to win this one (as low as 1.18 in places and best priced 1.22). I can’t argue with that.

After over two weeks since the players last played at Old Trafford, they might just be glad to be back home.

Of course, a fair section of the crowd will feel that it is their duty to make the United players believe that they have landed in North Road, Newton Heath circa 1878 but that’s another story…

Our last three (League) home games have been against strugglers Burnley, Hull and Portsmouth and they finished 3-0, 4-0 and 5-0 respectively. It would be nice to keep the pattern going but I doubt we’re going to win this one 6-0!

However, the League is so tight this season that whilst West Ham currently find themselves in a respectable 13th position, they are just four points above the relegation zone and need a fair few more points yet before they can count themselves as “safe”. They are not exactly “strugglers” but they are not too far away from those who are.

Indeed, it has been their away form that has really let them down so far this season. Just one win (at Wolves on the opening day of the season) from their 13 away games is not great and they still have most of the “big guns” to play.

It must be said however that their general form has improved since the start of the year and perhaps their most impressive away result came against Aston Villa last month where they held Villa to a 0-0 draw.

In fact, this points to something that has become quite apparent in their recent results – they haven’t been scoring bucketloads but they have been conceding like a team that is traditionally associated with imminent relegation either. After a dodgy opening to the season, they do seem to be a slightly tougher nut to crack these days.

This, of course, leads me to wonder which United will turn up tonight? Will it be the one that has looked so dangerous in recent games and have scored a ton of goals or will it be the one that played against Everton where Everton could have played without a goalkeeper and still won?

There’s an old cliche that you’re only as good as your last game but I’d like to think that the performance against Everton was a blip borne of a team that momentarily lost focus and were still mentally in Milan and something nearer to the performances we have become accustomed to over the last couple of months will be what we see here tonight.

Of great interest is going to be our defence. Rio Ferdinand has now completed his ban and should step in for Brown or Evans but there also doesn’t seem to be any valid reason why Vidic won’t play tonight – unless some mysterious injury crops up again in the warm-up.

Whatever happens, I think Evans needs a rest. He looked as nervous as hell against AC Milan and still appeared to be shaking when he arrived at Everton. He’s been brilliant throughout the last couple of seasons and has let no one down when he has been called upon (which has probably been more often than anyone envisaged 18 months ago) but I think he needs a bit of space to get himself together again.

With both Rio and Vidic looking as injury-prone as a pair of osteoporitic stuntmen, his chance will come again sooner rather than later.

I think that changes at the back are 99% certain and the tricky part is determining just how many other changes Fergie will make.

It could be that Fletcher and/or Carrick will be rested and Anderson could come back in.

Will there be any changes up front? It is almost impossible to leave him out but a breather for Rooney is perhaps not totally out of the question here.

All this uncertainty surrounding Fergie’s team selection makes making a prediction tricky. I am being swayed by the idea that I think that Fergie will play a much-tinkered side (I might be completely wrong).

I think we will win the game but if Fergie tinkers too much then it might not be quite as easy as the odds suggest.

Either way though, West Ham are not conceding too many of late and will probably fancy their chances of at least limiting us to a couple of goals.

The bookies seem to think that this will be a high scoring game and whilst it wouldn’t be a major surprise, I think their prices are a bit out and I think there’s some value to be had in going for the Under market here.

The bet is 2 points Under 2.5 Goals @ 2.5 with Paddy Power.

Firstly I think I should apologise and clear something up that I mentioned in my pre-match blurb. Aston Villa have an FA Cup Replay against Crystal Palace tomorrow which I completely overlooked and explains why they aren’t playing a League game this week.

Fergie did indeed ring the changes for this one with Fletcher and Carrick both being rested to be replaced by Gibson and Anderson.

Evans was also replaced by Vidic and it was good to see Vidic back, the defence seemed a lot more composed with him in there.

There was some bad news on the Rio Ferdinand front though as he apparently felt a twinge in his back earlier in the day and Fergie reckons it will mean that he won’t even be fit for the Carling Cup Final on Sunday.

Further bad news also came during the match when Anderson seemed to twist his knee or his ankle when playing the ball and his comeback was halted with less than 20 minutes played.

The referee for this one was Alan Wiley who hasn’t been seen at Old Trafford since the Sunderland game earlier in the season which prompted Fergie to suggest that he wasn’t fit enough. Is it my imagination or does Wiley look like he has lost a few pounds since then?

Anyway, this game followed a similar pattern to the game we played against West Ham at their place where they held us at bay until almost half time but we picked them off to eventually run out comfortable 4-0 winners.

This game looked like it was going to end with a low scoreline as both defences were getting the better of the attackers and intercepting the final balls over and over again.

Our opener came from a stunning passing move where the ball didn’t even touch the ground. Berbatov floated a neat pass across to Valencia who would normally bring the ball down, take a look and cross it in low. This time he hit it first time on the volley and Rooney only had to stoop to power home the header.

It was a completely different build up to what West Ham had become accustomed to and it seemed to completely take their defence by surprise with its execution.

So, we were up 1-0 at half-time and looking pretty comfortable.

Fergie must have put something in the half time drinks though because we came out like a rocket and Park was unlucky to see his effort come back off the crossbar after just twenty seconds of the restart.

We didn’t have to wait too long for the second though as (again) a lovely pass from Berby put Valencia through who crossed in for Rooney to head home yet again.

The game again went into a bit of a lull after that and after around 78 minutes, Fergie obviously decided that we were coasting and so brought off Berby and Rooney and sent on Diouf and Owen.

Within two minutes, Owen scored a lovely goal following a great piece of movement and a through ball from Scholes.

So, the final score was 3-0 and United really won at something of a canter here.

It sounds a bit stupid to say after conceding three goals but West Ham’s defence looked generally pretty decent but they do look a bit toothless up front and Foster was rarely troubled.

As for us, we go again within a point of Chelsea although we have played a game more. The next game is the Carling Cup Final and I think Fergie’s team selection here tonight has given plenty of clues as to who will be playing in that one on Sunday.

Saturday, 20th February 2010 – KO: 12:45

My biggest concern about this match after I watched the treatment Liverpool received from one or two of the players was that we might come away with a few injuries and as Rooney is likely to be the one targetted more than any other United player, that remains a big worry.

Everton of course did us a massive favour in their last game by beating Chelsea in their last game but we can expect no more favours in this game.

After a poor start to the season due to an horrendous injury list, Everton have been steadily making up for lost time and now find themselves in with a slight chance of a Europa League spot next season.

However, the injury list has started up again for them with the sickening news that Fellaini is going to be out until next season with some kind of ankle injury and the dangerous Tim Cahill is also going to miss a few games with a claf problem.

Ironically, the one player who we could never get to play in two successive games due to various injuries – Louis Saha – has enjoyed a good run of games since going to Everton and is on fire in front of goal this season with 15 goals in all competitions next to his name. He certainly appears to be the one to be wary of going into this game.

As for ourselves, Ferdinand is suspended (this is the last game of his ban) and Nani is also suspended. Giggs is obviously still injured.

The big question remains over Vidic – he has been training well all week and could make his return but we seem to have heard this before every game for the last few weeks and then something always seems to crop up just before the match.

In any case, the defense of Brown and Evans has been coping well in the absence of Rio and Vidic for much of the last couple of months so it shouldn’t be a great problem if he fails to appear again.

The loss of Nani is not so major. He has enjoyed a purple patch of late but his performance against AC Milan showed some signs of the old Nani returning and I have no doubt that Valencia would have played in this match even had Nani not been suspended.

The midfield is going to be interesting for this one. Fergie has been using the 4-5-1 formation away from home with Scholes or Giggs alternating alongside Carrick and Fletcher but Scholes played the full 90 minutes against AC Milan and I doubt he will play the full 90 minutes again here. With Park likely to take the left side of midfield and Anderson playing on Thursday night for the reserves, I can only think that either Gibson might play or we might just go for a 4-4-2 formation.

Owen and Berbatov have hardly had a look in recently as the attack has turned into the Wayne Rooney show. It is impossible to imagine Rooney being given a breather and certainly not for this match but perhaps he might find himself paired with either Owen or (more likely) Berbatov for this one?

Our record against Everton is actually extremely good – even at their place – they have beaten us just once (1-0 at Goodison in 2005) in our last 29 Premier League meetings and whilst I expect Everton and the lively Saha to give us some problems I just feel that we are on the type of roll at the moment that is going to take something more than Everton possess (especially given their key injuries) to stop it.

There’s always the chance that this one could end in a draw (I simply cannot see an Everton win) but I think the price about the United win is worth taking.

The bet is 3 points United to win @ 1.85 with Canbet

The main problem with reviewing this game is where to start.

Fergie did indeed go for the 4-4-2 in the end and I have no problems with that, in fact, I came quite close to predicting the team here but I would not have guessed Neville ahead of Rafael – I can only assume that Rafael was given a break after the runaround he was given by Ronaldinho in midweek.

However, if that was the case then why not bring in the (benched) Vidic for Evans? Evans looked completely out of sorts against AC Milan and he looked even more nervous out here today.

He wasn’t the only one as Rooney seemed incredibly nervous which is very strange for him and just about every touch he took was overhit. Perhaps in the past he has come to Everton merely wanting to show that he has come on a bit. This time he came to show his fellow Evertonians that he was perhaps the best player in the world.

It seems a contradiction to suggest that Berbatov should not have played today because he scored our goal but I saw plenty to suggest that he simply does not suit our current style today.

Many times he was well behind the play when he should have been streaking into the box or thereabouts.

All things considered, Everton beat us fair and square today. Their passing and movement was what we expect from Manchester United but we just didn’t make it happen. Everton fully deserved their win.

Perhaps after the intensity of the San Siro, this was just a game too far, too soon for us. We have had a massive fixture list in recent weeks and it is good to see the back of it.

As far as Everton go, I hope they can string a few results together and make a real go of that European spot because they are a far better side than their current position suggests.

With luck on the injury front next season, they could be right up there again. Good luck to them, they deserve it.

As for us, it’s back to the drawing board. A bit of a breather again would not go amiss but it is now full steam ahead and silverware beckons within the week.

Tuesday, 16th February 2010 – KO: 19:45

I don’t know about you but once we get to the knockout stage of the Champions League, it always hits home for me that we are now into the crucial stage of the season. This is where the mistakes get costly. This is where every inch has to be earned as we hopefully move towards some silverware.

Standing in our way of progress in the Champions League is an old and familiar foe – AC Milan.

When we last met them in the 2006/07 season, I really fancied our chances (especially when we won the first leg 3-2 at Old Trafford) but they completely blew us away in the return leg 3-0.

However, there was one man playing for AC Milan that evening who won’t be facing us this time – Kaka. He was incredible in that game.

This time round, there is a player who will be hoping to bang in the goals that we have been linked with on and off for years – Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. He scored a couple in their last game against Udinese so has clearly put himself in contention for a starting place for this one. Definitely one to be wary of. But Pato is also a big danger and even Ronaldinho has started to rediscover a bit of the old magic and is their other big danger.

The rest of the players, we all know about because most of them haven’t changed for the last ten years.

There is one, however, that is bound to attract more camera action than any other (even if he is on the bench for 70 minutes) and that is David Beckham.

Beckham was a very good player for United but he left at the right time because, let’s face it, he wouldn’t have had much of a look in once Ronaldo matured as a player. These days he is very much the same player that he always was although he can no longer do it for 90 minutes.

However, he still has magic in that right foot that can cause all kinds of trouble for a disorganised defence.

Anyway, enough of AC Milan. This is the Manchester United show and where the Italians were once the most feared of all opponents, they have been pushed down the ranks in recent years to the point where the very best that Italy has to offer (Inter Milan) were quite soundly beaten by us in last year’s competition.

I have no doubts whatsoever that we will have too much for AC Milan over the two legs of this tie.

The big question is: how will we fare in this away leg?

The general consensus in the Champions League is that the first leg result doesn’t matter too much so long as the away team scores at least one goal and the home team doesn’t win by three or more.

I think it is fair to say that AC Milan won’t be winning this one by three again and I also think it is fair to say that we have hit such a rich vein of scoring form that it is hard to believe that we will leave the San Siro without a goal next to our name.

I might appear to be dismissing AC Milan lightly but I’m not. Such is the experience they have, they certainly know their way around a football pitch but whilst they remain a pretty potent attacking force at their home ground, the defence is not what it once was and this could well be their undoing.

Not many teams go to the San Siro and come away with a win but it is not unusual anymore for a team to go there and come away with a goal or two.

I have no doubt that AC Milan will raise their game for this one and a 1-1 draw looks the likeliest result and that would suit us just fine but I do think we can go there and be a little more ambitious than that and actually come away with the win.

That we will score is almost beyond doubt in my opinion. The question is how will our defence fare against the attacking threat of AC Milan? If we can cope then we can win and that is what I am going to go for.

The bet is 2 points Manchester United to Win @ 2.7 with Paddy Power.

As the old cliche goes, this was very much a game of two halves. We were absolutely woeful for much of the first half and AC Milan could have found themselves 3-0 up by the time Paul Scholes scored his lucky equaliser.

Ronaldinho was immense in the first half tonight and caused all kinds of problems in the attacking third (you wouldn’t know a World Cup is coming up, would you?)

What was disappointing though was our defence in the first half. We just didn’t seem to be at the races. Evra attempted some kind of weird overhead kick clearance when Evans was standing right behind him and the effort only found Ronaldinho who smashed the ball in via a wicked deflection.

The other strange thing was our formation. Fergie went with some kind of 4-5-1 with Rooney up front and seemingly Park on the left with Nani on the right except Park seemed to be playing all over the place which left Evra covering the entire left side.

Fergie seems to have done just about everything to blank David Beckham out of existence in the days leading up to this match but I thought leaving the right hand side more or less completely unprotected was stretching the point a little too far especially when Leonardo played a bit of an ace by bringing Beckham into a more central position.

Anyway, 1-0 down after just three minutes and Milan denied a few more times after that, things didn’t look good for United until Scholes took a swing at a cross and completely missed it only for it to hit his standing foot and trickle in at around 3mph for 1-1 at half time.

At this point, I felt confident. We could hardly play any worse in the second half and the hopes were that Milan would not be able to match us for stamina as the game went on.

This proved to be the case. We were far better in the second half and Milan definitely slowed down and by the time Rooney scored his second and our third, the Milan defence were virtually statues.

At this point, I thought we could go on and score a fourth or even a fifth but we didn’t really go for the jugular and the momentum was lost.

We have had some great players at Manchester United but one of the greatest players during the last fifteen years has been a guy called Clarence Seedorf.

He came on as a sub with around 20 minutes to go and hardly got a touch to be fair but then, as the clock was ticking away for a decisive win for United, he popped up in the box and scored a cute goal for Milan’s second.

At 3-1, this tie was done and dusted. At 3-2, I still think it will take something more than Milan possess to overturn it but the gap is close enough for them to believe that they have it in them.

All things considered, I think we deserved our win here tonight. We played poorly in the first half and the referee was a complete homer. Many decisions went against us and in the end Carrick was sent off with around 4 seconds left on the clock (FFS, use some common sense ref!) which just about put a lid on a poor night for the officials.

AC Milan gave a good account of themselves and will perhaps be kicking themselves for not capitalising on their early chances.

3-2 as opposed to 3-1 makes the second leg that bit more interesting but I can’t see us making the mistakes we made tonight twice and at home, we really should be looking to inflict the kind of embarrassment that AC Milan inflicted upon us a few years ago.

Wednesday, 10th February 2010 – KO: 19:45

Generally speaking, we have a very good record at Villa Park but having said that, Villa hadn’t beaten us at Old Trafford for 26 years until they beat us 1-0 in December!

However, that defeat against Villa did come during our dodgy spell when Fergie barely had a defender to pick. It was the defeat against Fulham a couple of games later that really seems to have given us a jolt and our form since then has been very impressive and we are currently playing as well as we have played for quite some time.

I must admit that Fergie’s team selection in our last game (the 5-0 drubbing of hapless Portsmouth) was a bit surprising. I expected him to rest one or two but he selected his strongest possible team and I can only imagine that something similar will be the case tonight.

Villa still have plenty to play for this season but there have been signs of late that they are just wobbling a little bit and are not looking quite as strong as they were a couple of months ago.

I’m not going to go too deeply into this one. It is a tough game for us but it is the kind of game that we need to win because it is exactly the kind of game that Chelsea might be hoping to see us slip up in. A decent win for us here tonight will just let Chelsea know that we are not going away and that will only increase the pressure on Chelsea.

I think the price about a United win here is attractive enough to take here.

The bet is 3 points Manchester United to Win @ 1.9 with Paddy Power.

Fergie reverted to the familiar 4-5-1 formation for this one with Rooney on his own up front, Nani on the right and Giggs on the left. The rest of the team remained unchanged (no Vidic in defence again).

There wasn’t much to choose between the two teams in the early exchanges but Villa took the lead thanks to a remarkable header from Cuellar. There can’t be many times in his career that Edwin Van Der Sar has watched a header power over him from around 12 yards out but there you go.

Their lead was short-lived however as United equalised less than five minutes later. Good work from Nani again and a very good cross saw Giggs take a swing at it. I am not totally certain that it was a shot (it was heading for Scholes who would have had a tap in) but Villa defender James Collins attempted to shift his legs to avoid the nutmeg but this only deflected the ball into the net.

The next big incident was the sending off of Nani. The ball was loose and Nani went in full-bloodied and caught Petrov in the follow-through.

At first, the tackle looked bad but having watched it again from several different angles, it is nowhere near as bad as several challenges I have seen recently that have gone unpunished.

Nani definately got the ball and the tackle wasn’t as two footed as it first appeared. There is even a great angle which clearly shows Darren Fletcher watching the tackle and he punches the air as Nani wins the ball as if to say, “Well done lad, get in there!”

He clearly felt that the tackle was strong but non-malicious and the ball was won fairly. I have to say that that is my view of it now.

I think Petrov’s theatricals helped make the ref’s decision much easier. Had he just got up to his feet, I think the ref probably would have given Nani a yellow card.

So, with an hour to play, United were down to ten men.

You might have expected Villa to try to press home this advantage but strangely, they were very unadventurous and it was probably United who still had the better possession and chances.

Of course, a certain Brad Friedel denied us on a few occasions with his usual world class performance that he seems to reserve especially for Manchester United.

Had we played this game with eleven men then I think we would have gone on to win it but without the threat that Nani has been bringing to the game in recent weeks, Rooney looked a bit isolated up there on his own and against the meanest defence in the Premier League, he wasn’t going to get much change.

Two points dropped would have been much more hard to swallow had it not been for Everton beating Chelsea so we actually gained a point on them on the night.

Saturday, 6th February 2010 – KO: 15:00

This is a strange day to have a match for Manchester United. Today is, of course, the anniversary of the Munich Crash. We’ve had matches around the date in recent years but this is the first time in a while that a game has actually taken place on the day. To add further to the weirdness, four minutes into the game will be the exact anniversary of when the accident took place.

Personally, I think the match should be delayed by five minutes and allow the OT faithful to pay their respects before kick-off. I doubt five minutes is going to inconvenience anyone too much.

Anyway, onto the game itself.

Portsmouth come into this game in all kinds of trouble on the field and off it. A new owner has just come in and I must say how refreshing it is to hear someone come along and state upfront that he doesn’t have a clue about how to run a football club and wants out asap. An attitude many fans would appreciate their own owners admitting, I’m sure.

On top of all the financial problems, Portsmouth are currently rock-bottom of the Premier League. On the face of it, everything looks bleak for Portsmouth. The one thing they have in their favour, however, is a decent manager in Avram Grant.

This was the man who was given the unenviable task of replacing Jose Mourinho at Chelsea and came within an adulterous ex-England Captain’s slip of doing something even the special one couldn’t achieve – winning the Champions League.

If you look through Portsmouth’s recent resuts, it isn’t quite the horror show you would normally expect to see from the team at the foot of the League.

They lost narrowly to Fulham in midweek, they made Man City huff and puff to a 2-0 win before that, they have drawn with West Ham, beaten Sunderland in the FA Cup and even beaten Liverpool 2-0 in December. The only real mullering they have suffered in recent games was the 4-1 defeat at the hands of Arsenal.

I have been hearing predictions of a 3-0 or 4-0 win for Manchester United here today and if we maintain the form we have shown recently then that would not be a total surprise but I think this game could be more difficult than that.

I mentioned on the site the other day the massive games we have coming up in February (not least of which is an away game against Villa in midweek) and because of that, I think Fergie might just tinker with the team a bit and give some players a breather for this one.

I only hope that he doesn’t go overboard with the changes because whenever he has done that this season, it has invariably failed.

Anderson was due to play for the Reserves the other day but the match was postponed. At first, this seemed like Fergie punishing him for missing training the other week but the fact that he has resisted efforts by a couple of sides to take him on loan during January suggests that he has not completely lost patience with him and his inclusion in the Reserve match might just have been to give him a bit of match practice because he hasn’t featured since the first leg of the Man City Carling Cup tie, if memory serves me correctly and Fergie clearly has him in mind for the coming weeks.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Fletcher sit this one out and Anderson come in. Fletcher will have a very busy few weeks ahead of him.

What other changes Fergie will make is anyone’s guess but I am pretty convinced that all those who predicted a 3-0 or 4-0 win were assuming that Rooney would be playing in this one and that might not be the case. With Owen, Berby and Diouf, we have three very good strikers who are currently sitting on the bench and also need a bit of game time.

A change up front would not be a surprise.

As for the defence, Vidic looks like he will be back for this one but I seem to have said that for a couple of games recently only to find some mysterious injury has once again scuppered his return ten minutes prior to kick-off. If he is back then expect him to partner Evans.

Nani has received a lot of praise for his last three performances but I actually thought that this change in form for him started in our game against Burnley. He is definitely a different player of late and Fergie now has a decision to make.

Valencia is probably due a start but it is hard to drop a player who has been brilliant in recent games.

As for the rest, it is anyone’s guess. My own guess is this formation:-

VDS,Evra, Evans, Vidic, Rafael

Park, Carrick, Anderson, Nani

Owen, Berbatov

I am not going to make any predictions on the score because the corners market has proved very fruitful especially when we are playing at home against a team we are well fancied to beat.

I would have preferred an Over 11.5 corners market but I think this one could do the business…

The bet is 3 points over 12 corners @ 1.90 with Bet365.

After around 39 minutes, being cautious on the goal front seemed a wise move as, although the first half was largely one-way traffic, United hadn’t actually put the ball into the net.

A few minutes later, it was 2-0 to United and suddenly, a cricket score looked likely. When we went 4-0 up with 30 minutes still to play, it seemed almost cruel to let the game continue but this did represent a fantastic opportunity to not only go top of the League but to do out goal difference a few favours.

I wondered before this game whether Fergie would make a few changes but I should have worried more about Avram Grant because he did make a few changes. They play Sunderland in midweek and it appears that they did something similar to what Wolves did here earlier in the season – rested quite a few of their players in readiness for the “easier” game to follow.

Fergie did make a few changes however. Nani started on the left with Valencia resuming on the right. Gary Neville came in at right back. Dimitar Berbatov partnered Rooney up front for a 4-4-2 line up with Carrick and Fletcher in midfield.

The other news was that Vidic didn’t start, despite Fergie saying before the game that he had trained for the last few games and seemed ok.

This left Brown and Evans in defence.

All things considered, United couldn’t have asked for an easier game to go top of the league. We achieved that (although Chelsea can go back to the top again tomorrow if they beat Arsenal) and are now the highest scorers in the league with the best goal difference.

The bet won by the skin of its teeth with United getting 12 corners and Portsmouth getting just the one (but a VERY important one as far as the bet was concerned!)

Sunday, 31st January 2010 – KO: 16:00

As expected, Chelsea did win yesterday’s game against Burnley (full credit to Burnley though, they gave them a few problems) and now sit at the top of the table, four points ahead of us.

There are still plenty of games ahead of us (fifteen including this one to be precise) and plenty of points to play for but you just get the feeling that if the gap widened any more than four points (certainly if it got to seven points) then we might just be seeing our title slipping away.

It’s a tough ask and after the recent performances of Manchester United, it seems almost unfair to ask them to climb another mountain but I do think that we need the three points from this one. Those connected with Chelsea might be sat at home rubbing their hands much as we were when Chelsea came to the Emirates a couple of months ago.

On that day, we were all quite stunned to see Chelsea not only beat Arsenal but turn The Emirates into a scene from Cloverfield.

We need to try to pull off something similar (I would settle for 1-0 – 3-0 isn’t totally necessary) but the problem is, of course, that United wins away to Arsenal are rarer than Glazer fans at a MUST Christmas party.

The good news for us going into this one is that Rio Ferdinand aside (banned), Fergie has just about everyone available for selection. Vidic should be back to fill Rio’s spot.

Arsenal have a couple of injury problems that could be significant – perhaps the main one being Vermaelen and I am not sure what the situation is with him. If he remains injured then Sol Campbell could step in and I am not quite sure how I would be feeling about that if I were an Arsenal supporter right now.

Eduardo is another missing due to a torn hamstring and, of course, Van Persie remains injured.

Not that this will stop Arsenal being a potent attacking force. With Fabregas, Arshavin, Rosicky, Nasri and (dare I say) Bendtner, Wenger has plenty of attacking options and despite Chelsea and Manchester United seeming to have beaten everyone they have played recently by a cricket score, Arsenal remain top scorers in the Premier League.

To say our defenders will need to be on their toes is an understatement.

Van Der Sar, Evra, Vidic and Evans appear to be certs for this one but Fergie perhaps has a decision to make at right-back. Stick with the mobility and attacking threat of Rafael or go with the strength and experience of Brown?

Rafael’s youth and inexperience got the better of him in our first Carling Cup game against Manchester City but Fergie showed great faith in him to throw him in again in the return leg and he didn’t disappoint. Fergie may well decide that in Vidic and Evans, we have enough size and strength in defence to deal with most of Arsenal’s attack (they’re not the biggest or most physical of sides in the world) and will stick with Rafael.

The midfield is guaranteed to feature Fletcher. The one thing Wenger hates is anyone spoiling his team’s pretty play. Fletcher does this better than anyone.

I don’t see any reason to play anyone other than Carrick alongside him and I hope he plays in a more advanced position and helps Rooney out, this worked well in the City game.

There are probably three other midfield places up for grabs with Rooney playing alone upfront.

For all of Nani’s good form in his last few games, it looks likely that Valencia will resume on the right and Park might just get the nod on the left for his ability to get in amongst opponents. I’m sure Fergie would like the experience of Giggs or Scholes in there too.

As for a prediction, well, it is just the same as whenever we meet Arsenal. Toss a coin. We beat them at OT earlier in the season but Arsenal deserved at least a point in all honesty and if they had walked away with all three, we couldn’t have had many complaints.

However, we are definitely playing better as a team than we were back then and the result against City will have done wonders for the players’ confidence.

I think we have the players required to scupper Arsenal’s slick passing game here and if they are going to win, they might have to “win ugly”… not something Wenger’s teams have been renowned for down the years.

At the same time, we have more than enough going forward to cause a few problems of our own and the goals are starting to flow once more.

Picking out a decent bet for this one isn’t easy, statistically, there is very little to choose between anything you care to mention and the record between Fergie and Wenger is as close as it comes (I think Fergie just got his nose in front thanks to our Champions League games last season and the League game earlier this season).

As I say, you could probably toss a coin for a bet in most markets concerning this one and judging by the prices on most markets, the bookies feel the same way and there’s very little in the way of value to be found.

Possibly United (draw no bet) @ 2.00 is worth looking at but the fact that we have only drawn one game on our travels whilst Arsenal have only drawn once at home so far this season just has me thinking that a draw here might just be on the cards.

The problem with this one is that for every argument you give for a specific outcome, there is an equally good counter-argument for the complete opposite.

I just think that the strength of both teams in is attack whilst both defences have a question mark above them and I can see at least one goal at both ends.

The price isn’t great and I am not going overboard with the points. This is one I would rather not get involved with from a betting perspective.

The bet is 2 points Both Teams to Score @ 1.72 with Bet365.

Fergie continued to show great faith in Nani by selecting him to play on the right again for this one and Nani can never again complain that Fergie has not played him in a) his best position or b) the big games.

To Nani’s immense credit, he has repaid that faith with the best performances he has put in whilst wearing the United shirt.

He was brilliant today. Especially in the first half.

The first United goal was all about Nani. Two Arsenal players appeared to have him hemmed in but a wonderful bit of skill made mugs of them both. A little shimmy inside the box took another Arsenal player out of the game and then he delivered a wonderful chipped cross in the direction of Park who was running in towards goal.

This put the Arsenal goalkeeper in all kinds of trouble as he attempted to paw the ball over the bar but could never quite get enough on it and only succeeded in putting it into his own net. Had he not then Park would have scored, without doubt.

The goal has to go down as an own goal but it was all down to the skill and composure of Nani.

The next goal, just a few minutes later had shades of the goal we scored here in the Champions League last season when Ronaldo scored. A couple of great cross field passes on the break completely tore Arsenal to shreds and Nani showing great composure again took the ball in his stride, sprinted on and then had the composure again to play the ball into Rooney’s path for him to tuck away.

That was Rooney’s 100th Premier League goal and it is great that he has achieved that without too much attention to the subject because these milestones can weigh heavily on players at times.

We had to wait until the second half for the third and whilst another great goal, it was quite bizarre.

Park started his run onto a through pass in his own half and he ran with the ball… and he ran… and he ran…

I must admit to having some sympathy with the Arsenal defence because I too thought that with Nani, Rooney and Fletcher steaming forward, the sideways pass was going to come and so they all marked the incoming players but as Park descended upon the penalty area, they suddenly seemed to realise that perhaps Park is capable of hitting the target himself and started to head in his direction.

However, completely unchallenged, Park smacked the ball into the bottom corner. 3-0. Game over.

Arsenal scored late on which galvanised them for a bit of a late rally and we had a few scares in the closing moments but we could have scored one or two of our own during that time.

Wenger felt that his side played poorly but I just think United played brilliantly today. Surely not a coincidence.

Rooney continues to be the main man but Nani is rapidly shooting up in the estimation of just about everyone concerned with Manchester United and if he can continue this form then the future bodes well for us all.

That’s not to say that this was a two-man display. Just like the game against Manchester City, there wasn’t an average display by any of the United players today, all did their job brilliantly.

The pre-match hype was centred on Rooney v Fabregas.

I missed the line-ups before the game so I didn’t know who was playing and who was on the bench etc and fifteen minutes into the game, I squinted my eyes and asked my friend, “Is Fabregas playing?”.

75 minutes later, I could have asked, “So when was he subbed?”

Nuff said.

Wednesday, 27th January 2010 – KO: 20:00

There has been quite a lot of talk going into this match as to who has the advantage after the first leg scoreline.

As City come in 2-1 ahead, they have an obvious advantage but as we are at home and know exactly what we need to do in order to progress, some feel that we have the advantage.

The away goal rule that we all know from the Champions League works slightly differently in the Carling Cup.

In the Champions League, if we were to win this one 1-0 after 90 minutes we would be through but in this game, it would go to extra time as the aggregate scores would be level (2-2).

If the scores are still level at the end of extra time, then we would go through on the away goal scored.

If the match ends 2-1 to us at the end of extra time then it goes to a penalty shoot-out.

If this does happen, we could have 90 minutes of normal time, 30 minutes of extra time and 20 minutes of Fergie time, add to that the penalty shoot-out and we could all be here until midnight!

I have a feeling that this tie will be settled in ninety minutes, however.

I thought we were more than a match for City last week and should have gone in at half-time 1-0 ahead. A dodgy penalty decision that favoured City just before half-time must have been a blow for the United players.

In fact, there were several little decisions that went in City’s favour throughout the game.

Hopefully there will be no dodgy refereeing decisions in this one and if there are, the majority will favour us to balance things up from the first leg.

Probably the weak link in the City team last week was young defender Boyata and with Toure returning from Africa, he could take his place in defence.

City also have Adebayor back and he could well play a role here tonight. The main men for City at the moment however are Given, Bellamy and Tevez and all three were certainly thorns in our side last week and Bellamy was a thorn in our side in the Premier League fixture. Fergie must have been scratching his head for the last week or so, wondering what exactly to do about him.

With a bit of luck, Mancini will play Robinho!

As for us, we are starting to tick again recently. The goals are flowing and Wayne Rooney is on fire. That Rooney will spearhead the attack here is beyond question. The decision Fergie has to make is who to play alongside him.

Personally, I would have no problem with Owen, Berbatov or even Diouf although I think that initially, it could well be Berbatov who gets the nod with Diouf coming on if necessary.

The other big decision for Fergie is who to play on the right.

He rested Valencia against Hull at the weekend and brought Nani in. Valencia has been Mr Consistency this season with regular 7-8/10 performances week in, week out.

Played over on the left, Nani has been giving 5-6/10 performances when picked (and that has been quite rarely).

However, against Hull, played on the right, Nani put in a 9/10 performance and probably did better than Valencia has done at any point in the season so far.

If Nani gets the nod tonight will we get another 9/10 performance or will we be back to square one with him?

Nani won’t like it and will wonder what he has to do to impress Fergie and get the chance to play in a big game but I suspect Fergie will opt for the safety of Valencia. If he does give Nani another go then I will have to rethink my theory that Fergie has become too afraid of losing.

Personally, I would like to see Fergie realy go for this one and put ut the following team:-

Van Der Sar, Rafael, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Nani, Carrick, Fletcher, Giggs, Rooney and Diouf.

If Nani and Giggs can supply the ammunition, Diouf will do the rest and his pace will give the dodgy City defence problems all night long.

As for what Rooney could do tonight…

This could end up a tight and cagey game (if Fergie packs the midfield and plays Rooney upfront alone, he is going for the 1-0) but I just cannot see that happening. The atmosphere here tonight will be electric. Both sets of players will be high on adrenaline and I can see mistakes. Possibly even a sending off.

I think United will win this one and, that being the case, I see no reason why we can’t win by two clear goals and I was thinking of making this the bet because whilst the bookies make United clear favourites to win the game (1.66), the price jumps up considerably for a United two goal winning margin (2.87) and whilst it might at first seem a crazy bet, I think it represents good value and worth considering

However, I am going to stick with the corner markets. We have been getting plenty of corners recently and with two attacking sides such as these, a glut of corners would not be a surprise (there were 17 in the first leg and 12 when we met City at OT in the League earlier in the season).

The bet is going to be 3 points Over 12 Corners @ 1.97 with Bet365.

There was a lot of talk beforehand about whether or not the scoreline from the first leg gave the advantage to City or United.

As this game drew to a 0-0 half-time scoreline, it was quite clear that the advantage lay with City. At that stage, they were 45 minutes away from the final.

We played the better football during the first half and had all the possession and territorial advantage but at that stage, it counted for nothing.

A goal from Paul Scholes after 52 minutes swung the balance in United’s favour and a goal from Carrick 20 minutes later appeared to seal the issue but in reality, City’s job was still the same. They had to score a goal.

When Tevez scored five minutes later, it was completely even and no one appeared to have the advantage although if anything, the goal gave City added belief and resolve. Having had the game in the bag, we were suddenly up against it again.

We upped our game again after around 80 minutes and really piled on the pressure and, as has happened so many times this season, we finally got the goal that settled it through… who else? Wayne Rooney.

Yet again, Rooney will get all the headlines and I will not begrudge him any of them. Whether he is the best player in the world according to the judges of these things or not I don’t care, I cannot think of one player who I would swap him for at this moment in time.

He has soaked in the never-say-die attitude of Manchester United past and now embodies it in the present. Long may it continue into the future.

I wasn’t far out with my team selection although I knew I was wishing for too much with Diouf and Fergie chose Paul Scholes instead and went with the 4-5-1 formation (I refuse to call it 4-3-3) with Rooney up front alone.

As usual, this left Rooney quite isolated upfront at times but Fergie definitely seemed to take action about this at half time and Carrick played a much more forward role in support of Rooney.

The difference for us as a goal-threat in the second half was there for all to see.

It was probably written in the stars that Tevez would have his say in this game and I still can’t quite decide whether it was brilliant skill from him, a bit lucky or a bit of a bad decision by Rio to go in with his head rather than just put his foot through it that led to the goal.

I’ll give it to Tevez because whatever he did, it ended in the back of the net and that is all you want from your forwards.

It was probably also written in the stars that Rooney would have the last say in this contest. He has been in incredible scoring form of late but had yet to score in this tie until well into time added on when he scored the most important goal of them all. The winning goal.

As for other stuff, I thought Fergie was spot on in selecting Nani to start here. He was immense against Hull and he was great again tonight. On the surface, he perhaps didn’t appear to do as well as he did against Hull but you have to take into account the quality of opposition. With all due respect to Hull, Manchester United are a class above but Nani did not look out of place there tonight and did his job well. Again, from the right side of midfield.

Rio Ferdinand was immense in defence and showed just what we miss when he is not playing. I was not very complimentary about him for getting into trouble with the FA immediately after returning from a three month layoff and I still don’t think he will be giving any Mastermind contestants sleepless nights but he remains a World class defender when his head is in the right place.

Giggs was excellent and it is just such a shame that he is now getting on in years and the pace he once possessed is now long behind him because there were a couple of moments when a 17 year old Giggsy would have made a difference but the 17 year old Giggsy might not have played in the cross for Rooney’s winner so it’s swings and roundabouts.

Fletcher was great too. All over the pitch, making himself a nuisance. It’s not pretty but it is incredibly effective. Without that steel in midfield, we probably would have lost this match.

I could go on. I thought everyone had a great game here tonight and we needed it because, make no mistake about it, City have proved in recent years that they can always raise their level a gear or two when we’re the opponents, even when they are not being bankrolled by a trillionaire. Now that they have the quality players afforded them by their new owner, they are even more of a threat and the desire to get one over us is as intense as ever but backed up with true quality.

The bet won quite easily (with four corners in the first four minutes, I had visions of the bet winning within 15 minutes!) so that was good too. If anyone took United to win by two clear goals… yay, you!

A great night, a great game and a great tie. For all the feelings that the Carling Cup is the fourth choice trophy for any top Premier League team, it was probably as good as any Champions League final in terms of excitement and entertainment.