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.

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.

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.

Saturday, 23rd January 2010 – KO: 15:00

Due to the fact that we’re out of the FA Cup (and, obviously, so are Hull) this is the only Premier League match being played this weekend.

It is now very tight at the top between ourselves, Chelsea and Arsenal and it seems that every game that is played produces a new leader at the moment. If we can win this one today, we will go top by a point.

Anyway, onto the game.

Hull were largely expected to be relegated last season but thanks to a terrific first half of the season, they put enough points on the board to give them a chance and ended up surviving by the skin of their teeth.

So far this season, there haven’t been very many highlights for them and they arrive here third from bottom.

Their away form, in particular, has been very poor: just four points from eleven games although strangely, two of those points came against Tottenham and Manchester City.

As for us, our home form has been very good and only Aston Villa have come to Old Trafford and won.

It’s going to be interesting to see who lines up for United in this one.

Rio Ferdinand looks set to make his long-awaited return from injury and it will be good if the real Rio Ferdinand is back. If Rio is back then it will probably be Brown who makes way unless Fergie plays him at right back.

I don’t think Nani did anything wrong in our last game and could be on the left. I doubt very much that Obertan will be considered as he played a full ninety minutes for the reserves less than 48 hours ago.

The interesting decision is going to be the forward places. If Berby is fit again then he could well partner Rooney but new boy Diouf did his case no harm whatsoever by scoring a hat-trick in his first start for the Reserves on Thursday. He came off after around 55 minutes the other night with a knock but he is apparently okay and ready for action again.

Hull will no doubt come here and hope to be strong in defence and deny us time and space. I suspect Fergie will put out as strong an attacking team as he can muster and go all out for a convincing win. Nothing less than three points here today will be good enough and a chance to go to the top, however briefly, has to be taken.

Like most of our home games this season, we could win comfortably (as we did when we played Hull at their place just last month) or we could misfire and limp to a 2-1 or 1-0 win.

I’d like to think, however, that as players are now coming back and the team is starting to look a bit more like it’s normal self, we should be beating Hull comfortably.

In an attempt to find something worth betting on for this one that doesn’t require United to win by three goals, I am going to go back into the corner market for this one.

The bet is 3 points OVER 11.5 Corners @ 1.85 with Bet365.

Fergie sprung something of a surprise here as he played both Park and Nani… Park on the left and Nani on the right.

Valencia has been ever-present on that right hand side and it is becoming taken for granted that he will start but Nani is naturally right-sided and he looked much more comfortable over there.

Wayne Rooney will rightfully grab all the headlines for this match but I have to give Nani a massive thumbs up for his performance today. No frustrating moments just pure quality dribbles and crosses all the way through. There was even a great free-kick from him that led to Rooney’s second. He was also denied what appeared to be a penalty after a neat dribble drew in a clumsy tackle.

Rooney got us off to a flying start after eight minutes but the score stayed 1-0 for an awful long time and it was starting to look like it might be a nervy end to the game.

Enter Wayne Rooney for three goals in ten minutes to put the match well and truly to bed and give it the kind of score that really, our possession and territorial advantage probably deserved.

4-0 was probably a bit harsh on Hull but anything less than 3-0 would have been harsh on us.

As for the bet, it was won by half time (one of those you wish you had been a bit more adventurous with the point on!) so… yay me too!

In Fergie We Trust

i) Our main rival is Chelsea. They will lose points and concede defeats. Essien is a big part of Chelsea, and if he remains injury-prone till the end of the season, Chelsea will suffer defensively.

ii) Cech is not the same world class goalkeeper as he once was under Mourinho. He’ll concede more goals than any season before.

iii) Ancelotti has not won any league for more than 5 years. His main objective is to win the Champions League, not the league.

iv) Arsenal players are still young. Can they manage the burden of the expectations of their fans? No..

v) Rooney and Diouf can make a great pair. Diouf showed he has great heading ability, something Rooney lacks. Can they play together? Yes! Give them some time and we’ll soon see the same Cole-Yorke chemistry

vi) Berbatov wants to answer to his critics!!! He is at last using his out of common technique to do something useful. I hope his ‘injury’ does not bother him much…

vii) Our attack is performing better than last season!! Presently, our goal to match ratio in the league is 2.23 whereas last season it was only 1.79.

However our defense is underperforming. This season, clean sheets have been quite rare. Out of 22 matches played, we have 9 clean sheets; a ratio of 0.41 cs per match played. Last season though, we had a ratio of 0.63 cs per match played.

Therefore by fixing the defence and keep scoring goals, we can still win the league. Fortunately, Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic and Evra will soon play together and we can build some consistency at the back.

viii) Valencia is the new David Beckham, not the new Ronaldo. His crosses are world class but he needs a target in the box. Bingo! We’ve got Diouf!

ix) Nani wants to prove himself. I hope he does…

x) Hargreaves will soon be back! He will be like a new addition to the squad and his can give something different to the midfield.

Saturday, 16th January 2010 – KO: 15:00

After a week of PIKS, bonds and other such financial nonsense that my brain is not equipped to deal with, it is nice to be able to write about the thing this is all about… twenty two men, one ball and a pitch. Football.

We come into this game with something of a score to settle with Burnley because they, of course, beat us at their place at the beginning of the season.

I must admit, I had Burnley relegated before a ball was even kicked this season but for a while there, it looked like they might just pull off Mission: Impossible. However, whilst they are not exactly on a losing run, they haven’t won a Premier League match since beating Hull in October and they now find themselves hovering just above the relegation zone and with the fixtures they have this month, they could actually find themselves in it before the month is out.

Tough times for them and now they have lost Owen Coyle, the manager who brought them into the Premier League.

The task of saving them now rests with Brian Laws who has plenty of experience in management but must be regarded as something of an unknown quantity at this level.

Still, if a trip to Old Trafford is a baptism of fire, it could also be seen as a chance to really get his tenure off to a flying start.

I think we can expect a solid and committed display from the Burnley players who will come into this game much as they went into the game against us at Turf Moor – nothing to lose and everything to gain.

I have a sneaky feeling that they might even receive something of a fillip from Fergie prior to this match as, massively important though this game is and nothing less than three points will be good enough, we also have the small matter of a Carling Cup tie in three days time against Manchester City.

The worry for me should Fergie decide to tinker with the team too much for this one is that his opinion of the players and the reality of the players has been quite out of sync on occasion this season (Leeds the other week, for example).

That said, his hands are still tied somewhat with the defensive positions but the good news is that Van Der Sar is back and could well make his re-appearance for this one.

Fletcher is obviously suspended following his sending off against Birmingham so he’ll be having an enforced rest anyway.

The situation with Dimitar Berbatov remains a bit of a mystery with Fergie saying today that the knee problem comes and goes, sometimes he feels it, sometimes he doesn’t. I took that to mean that when Berby has a poor game, he will be feeling it for the next match!

However, I do think that Fergie will play Owen and Rooney for this one but he might even want to see a bit more of Diouf whose debut turned a bit pear-shaped last week because of Fletcher’s sending off.

I’d like to think that Fergie will put out as close to a full-strength team as he can muster for this one and bring people off when the game is “safe” rather than the other way round. If he does this then we really should be beating Burnley quite comfortably.

I am not going to predict any kind of goal score for this one but one thing we have been doing consistently so far this season is outscoring our opponents on the corner front. Indeed, even the game at Turf Moor which we lost, we still outscored them 12-1 in terms of corners and something not too far away from that wouldn’t surprise me here.

The bet is 4 points Manchester United -5 Corners @ 1.9 with Paddy Power.

At the end of the first half which saw lots of possession for Manchester United but barely a shot worthy of the name, we were left quite frustrated as yet again and Burnley fans might have even begun to think that the double against the Champions was not the far-fetched dream it might have seemed six months ago.

Truth be told, for all our possession, it was Burnley who had the best opportunity to score in the first half.

I have read a few reports on this match which have said that Nani (who received a surprise recall from Fergie for this one) was disappointing. Well, I don’t know about that. I have been left far more frustrated and disappointed with Nani on other occasions than I was here today. He put in a defensive shift, he looked to take his man on, he put in some good crosses, he even had a decent bicycle shot saved in the closing minutes of the first half (probably our best attempt in the first half) and on this evidence, he still has something to offer the team.

Part of the problem is that both Nani and Valencia operating down the wings put in some good crosses but no one was able to convert them.

Rooney, for all his qualities cannot head the ball and if he could, he would probably score ten more goals every season.

Berbatov (who partnered Rooney up front from the start of this one) is very disappointing in the air for such a tall man.

Anyway, the second half started much the same as the first with good possession for United but Burnley, if anything, grew in confidence and had a great chance around the hour mark but Nugent hit just wide when he should have hit the target.

This seemed to galvanise Burnley who came out a little more in an effort to trade with United blow for blow.

Three minutes later, Berbatov scored a great goal with his left foot having missed an effort earlier in the game when it looked easier to score. It was a great burst from Berby and a great finish. Now if only we could see a bit more of that from him!

This prompted Fergie to bring off Carrick and replace him with Anderson (perhaps in a nod towards the City game).

Five minutes later, Berby had another shot which was saved and from the resulting rebound, Rooney leapt onto the ball, steadied himself and fired the ball low into the corner of the net.

2-0 and finally we had a bit of breathing space.

A couple of minutes later, Fergie made a double change by bringing off Rooney and Berbatov to be replaced by Owen and Diouf. Has he finally got again the four quality strikers he has always wanted?

The closing fifteen minutes were largely uneventful as Burnley seemed to concede that this was going to be their tenth away defeat from eleven and United were largely happy to play within themselves.

After around 82 minutes Man Utd old boy Chris Eagles was subbed (to warm applause from all sections of the ground, might I add) in order for Robbie Blake to come on (who, you probably remember, scored the thunderbolt which beat us earlier in the season).

Within seconds, Burnley hit the post with a header which just seemed to remind United that the final whistle hadn’t been blown yet.

Finally, with the clock ticking away into time added on, Valencia played a long ball over the top which is obviously the type of ball that the fleet-footed Diouf thrives on. He sprung the offside trap and it was a race to the ball between himself and the Burnley keeper. Diouf won the race and won the ball bravely with his head to loop it over the advancing Jensen.

3-0 to United.

All in all, something of a flattering scoreline for us. We dominated possession but we had a couple of decent saves from Van Der Sar and some poor finishing from Burnley to thank for some of that.

After a week of doom and gloom, however, this was just the kind of boost the United faithful needed.

Incidentally, United won the corner count 7-1 so the bet won too!

Saturday, 9th January 2010 – KO: 17:30

Under normal circumstances, I would be quite confident of a win for Manchester United in this one. Our previous games against Birmingham have tended to be fairly close affairs (especially at St Andrews) but they have failed to beat us in any of our previous meetings.

However, Birmingham have been this season’s surprise package and are the real form team in the Premier League at this moment and after a bit of a stuttering start to the season (during which time we beat them 1-0 at OT) are now unbeaten in their last twelve matches and this has included creditable draws against City, Liverpool and Chelsea.

A feature of their home games so far this season is that very few goals have been scored (1.30 goals per game on average).

I can see something very similar today.

With Chelsea now not playing until next Saturday (due to their game against Hull today being postponed), this represents a chance for us to go top of the League. The question is: Can we take it?

Well, we really should be able to and the team that takes the field this evening will be nothing like the team that performed so woefully against Leeds last weekend.

Since last weeks disaster, United have been written off. The empire is crumbling, Fergie has lost the plot, we’re missing Ronaldo, we should have signed someone for £50 Million etc etc etc.

Fergie has heard it all before and it is during these times of trouble that we have seen the best of him and his teams down the years.

What would normally be a fairly unattractive fixture has been transformed into the perfect opportunity to prove the doubters wrong and to do so from the Premier League summit.

It won’t be easy and we might have to do what only Bolton (!?) have managed to do at St Andrews so far this season and score two goals but we should be capable of that. Otherwise, the responsibility will lie with Brown and Evans to keep Birmingham out at the other end.

Despite the generally low scoring nature of games at Birmingham so far this season, there’s something about 2-1 that is ringing out about this one.

An interesting little sideshow to this one is that Mame Biram Diouf is clear to play, has been given Tevez’s old Number 32 shirt and could make an appearance. Are we about to see yet another masterstroke from the best manager in the business?

I’m going to go against the bookies and the stats for this one because I just have a very strong feeling that there are going to be some highly motivated United players out there tonight with careers to save and points to prove. Birmingham will play their part and against our dodgy defence, could well score at least one of their own.

The bet will be 2 points OVER 2.5 Goals @ 2.19 With Canbet.

A bitterly cold evening in Birmingham with temperatures as low as -6°C – the type of conditions that might have even induced a bit of running from Berbatov, if only to keep warm. Unfortunately, Berbatov was completely dropped for this one as Fergie went with the familiar 4-3-3/4-5-1 away formation with Rooney alone up front.

The first half started very well for United as we overran Birmingham in midfield and enjoyed plenty of possession.

However, apart from a decent attempt from Rooney which in turn produced a very good save from Joe Hart, we had very little to show for the possession as Birmingham played with plenty of men behind the ball and at times, had seven or eight players in the box and any shots we had were blocked by what seemed like one of eight goalkeepers!

We were looking for that little bit of magic from someone (the kind of magic we bought Berbatov for but which he has rarely produced) but no one was able to provide it.

Personally, I felt that with the midfield of Valencia, Carrick, Fletcher, Scholes and Park, one of them had to do more to get forward and support Rooney who was often completely outnumbered and, as often happens in this situation, was starting to look a bit frustrated. There were times when you could have thrown a blanket over Scholes, Fletcher and Carrick and it was screaming for one of them to get forward and leave it to the other two.

Anyway, totally against the run of play, Birmingham got a corner after around 38 minutes and from the resulting melee, scored a pretty scrappy goal which put them 1-0 up at half-time.

It has not been the first time this season that we have dominated possession only to find ourselves a goal down against the run of play but this really did look quite desperate because we simply weren’t troubling Joe Hart.

The second half was a much more even affair as Birmingham really got to grips with us and had several attempts on goal which were saved by Kusczak.

However, we kept plugging away and eventually, a low cross fizzed into the box brought about an own goal after 64 minutes to make the score 1-1.

At this stage, I expected us to press on and grab the winner but for all of our huffing and puffing, we simply weren’t able to and, again, it was probably Birmingham who had the better chances to get the winner.

Mame Biram Diouf did get to make his debut but it all fell a bit flat for the lad as within minutes of him coming on, Fletcher was harshly sent off for two bookable offences and the usual Manchester United grand-stand finish just didn’t materialise. When the assistant referee held up six minutes of added time, we were all expecting something but Birmingham kept hold of the ball for almost the entire six minutes and reduced us to scraps.

One thing that was noticable about Diouf, however, is his pace. This boy is rapid. Once he has been here a bit longer and the players get used to him, I can see him giving defences all kinds of trouble with him getting behind. What remains to be seen is his composure in front of goal. He looks likely to get a few chances if he gets the games. The question is: can he convert them?

We’ll have to wait and see on that one.

Anyway, a bit of an own goal from me here. I identified that Birmingham home games are low scoring and this one obviously fell into that category in the end.