For all the good points of this season so far (and I don’t know if this is just me or…) there appear to have been an almost equal amount of low points that have largely overshadowed those good points.

The midweek debacle against Crystal Palace was another of these to add to the 6-1 thrashing by City and the generally lacklustre nature of our Champions League campaign so far this season.

Basically, I think us United fans need something to cheer us up in this game this evening. Some goals would be nice because our scoring has almost completely dried up ever since Fergie was critical of the team for being “too cavalier”.

Personally, I think I’d like a bit of cavalier back right now.

Anyway, onto this game. Villa Park has been a happy hunting ground for us for quite some time now – I can’t actually remember the last time we lost there but our last three visits have all been drawn after a long succession of victories.

Villa themselves are having an indifferent season so far. Few defeats but probably too many drawn games has been the story of their campaign so far. Apart from Newcastle (who they drew with) they haven’t really played any of the top teams at home so far this season but have still only managed three wins from six games there and two of those were against strugglers such as Wigan and Blackburn.

Strangely, it could be argued that our away form has actually been slightly more impressive than our home form so far this season (I’m talking across all competitions here, not just the league) and we remain unbeaten on our travels so far.

So, what will happen here this evening? Well, I think there’ll be a reaction from the players in this one. We have been creating a lot of chances but not putting them away and I do feel that someone is going to be on the receiving end of a big scoreline one game soon – perhaps not this one but I can certainly see us scoring two this evening.

I’m going for goals this evening and the bet is going to be 2 points OVER 2.5 goals @ 2.05 with Bet365.

With all due respect to Newcastle, I bet few people expected this fixture to be a sort of “top of the table clash” at this start of the season but Newcastle have been going great guns so far and, like us, have only suffered defeat at the hands of Manchester City but it has to be said that they made a better fist of their match against City than we did.

However, I did have a feeling that they were becoming a bit stretched when they played Everton just before the international break and that lack of strength in depth will probably result in their downfall and as we enter the busy month of December, they could well get found out and start to settle to something like their “normal” position in the table.

But for now, they’re full of belief and, provided last weekend’s defeat hasn’t adversely affected them too much, then they’ll come to Old Trafford with the feeling that they can finally get something from us there (they haven’t beat us at Old Trafford for the best part of forty years).

The biggest problem with this one is that we all know pretty much what to expect from Newcastle but the same cannot be said of Manchester United right now and whereas last season it was our away form which was iffy whilst our home form was impeccable, this season, it has almost tended towards the reverse and the midweek draw against Benfica was another disappointing day at the office.

That’s probably an exaggeration but I think it’s fair to say that we haven’t looked as good at home as we did last season save for perhaps that game against Arsenal right near the start of the campaign.

The main problem for me this season is that the team has had to change too much from game to game and this has made us extremely difficult to predict – I am not even sure what our “best eleven” is any more and I’m not even sure if Fergie himself knows.

What we do know now is that Anderson is set for another long absence due to injury and is not likely to feature for another three months or so. There seems to be a possibility that we won’t be seeing Tom Cleverley again in 2011 which is another blow.

Whether this in turn means that we will see players like Young and Rooney employed in central midfield again remains to be seen but there does seem to be a feeling that Fergie is happier with the more standard Carrick/Fletcher partnership now that both have recovered from their own problems.

The defence has also changed just as much as our midfield so far this season and I still don’t really know what our best back four is.

What is beyond doubt though is that both of these departments will have to perform today because Newcastle aren’t where they are by luck – they are a hard-working side, highly organised and are more than capable of scoring goals.

I’d obviously like to believe that we will win here this afternoon but I think that we might have to score a couple if we are to do so because I do expect Newcastle to score and that belief is going to form the basis of my bet because I think the price represents decent value.

The bet is 2 points Both Teams to Score (Yes) @ 2.00 with Bet365.

Like most other United fans, I was looking forward to the return of Ashley Young and Tom Cleverley for this one but the news that Cleverley will be out until Christmas is a major blow but Young should return following the toe injury that has kept him out of action for a few weeks.

I’m not going to over-analyse this one. Despite Swansea’s record at home this season (they are currently unbeaten) and despite how well they performed at Anfield the other week, we really should be winning this game.

By the time we kick off, the result of the Manchester City/Newcastle game will be known which might put some added pressure on us to win but I do believe that we’ll come through well this evening but I’m going to go for the straight win because even though the price is nothing to write home about, I do think that it represents value.

The bet is 5 points United to Win @ 1.57 with Bet365.

With this week’s opponents being Manchester City, it completes something of a “full set” for Manchester United in that we have now faced all five of the teams that finished in last season’s top six – that this has happened after just nine games shows just what a tough start we have had.

We’ve been a little fortunate in that most of these games have been at home with only last weekend’s trip to Anfield not following suit. However, as we have picked up ten points from the four games so far then that is probably as good a return from a tough set of fixtures than we have any right to ask for.

However, us greedy United fans will be demanding another three this afternoon – luckily, our players are even greedier than we are and there can be no doubt that they will be demanding it of themselves.

I’m not entirely sure what the situation is now but after around five games, we were apparently on our best ever start to a league campaign under Sir Alex but I would have thought that twenty points from our opening eight games must still be one of our best ever starts too – which only goes to show how well City have started with twenty-two from a possible twenty-four.

I do feel that someone’s “o” will go today though. A draw cannot be ruled out and it may well be that both teams would accept a point if offered to them now but something big is there for the taking should either team be brave enough to go for it.

I feel that whilst City have enjoyed a great start, their toughest opponent so far in the Premier League has been Tottenham and there was no great surprise about any of their other victories. What has been interesting, however, has been their Champions League campaign. Now, our own CL campaign hasn’t exactly been devastatingly impressive but there has been an element of complacency about our campaign. Manchester City have no such excuses – they have been drawn in a tough group and they have generally struggled to show anything like their Premier League form so far and they were given an absolute lesson when they met Bayern Munich – a team that is perhaps on a similar level to ourselves.

All things considered, I believe that we have to go into this game with confidence. Old Trafford is a fortress and we are currently on a winning run there that stretches back to when West Brom held us to a 2-2 draw around this time last year – twenty games ago.

I also believe that as good as Manchester City’s squad is, there are actually very few of their players who I would swap with our own. Off the top of my head, I think we could possibly find a place for Kompany, Silva and Aguero but beyond that, I’m not too sure.

As for a team selection prediction this afternoon well… this has been very difficult so far this season and Fergie has seemingly taken an almost perverse delight in putting out teams that leave most onlookers completely bewildered but I do believe that we’ll see something a little more predictable today.

Recent swaps and changes in the defence appear to have been made with this game in mind and it does look like the Vidic/Ferdinand partnership could finally be ready to resume duties in the centre with Evra on the left and De Gea in goal.

The right-back position remains hard to predict and it could be that we see Smalling out there again today although Jones is obviously an option but a lot depends on the guess about the Rio/Vida thing being correct.

The midfield has to have Young and Nani on the wings for me but the centre is a little harder to guess at but I will have a stab at Anderson and Fletcher.

Rooney and Hernandez up front again unless Fergie goes with a five man midfield in which case I’d go for Park somewhere in the middle and Rooney alone upfront.

As for a prediction on the result, well this is a tough one and one that really shouldn’t be touched in terms of betting but there should be goals in this game and perhaps even a fair few bookings if things get a little heated down there but, given the price on offer then I think a straight punt on United to win is decent enough value.

The bet is 2 points United to Win @ 2.25 with William Hill.

Well, what a game to get your weekend underway with! Already this season we have played three of last season’s top six (we can’t play ourselves of course) and after this match we will have played them all except Manchester City but I must admit that this is the one that has got the pulse racing that little bit faster than the others.

Possibly because it is an away fixture whereas the others were at Old Trafford and I’m always fairly confident of beating anyone at home but Anfield against a Liverpool side that fancies themselves as challengers again is a different kettle of fish entirely.

Up until recent years, we actually had a very good record at Anfield and we would regularly pop over and help ourselves to a point or three but for the last three seasons, Liverpool have really got our number and have beaten us each time. They even had the audacity to give us a 4-1 stuffing at old Trafford a couple of years ago but we won’t go into that here.

What is quite incredible about games between us is that they rarely end in a draw. In fact, the only one in the last twenty meetings came in 2005 when the game ended goalless.

It is interesting that Vidic could well be back for this one because on the one hand, I do believe that our defence is in desperate need of his solidity but on the other hand, good old Nemanja has developed something of a habit of getting himself sent off whenever we play Liverpool – three times he has seen red when we have played them!

Surely the chances of it happening again are slim though and it will be great to see him back if that is what Fergie decides.

The rumour going around is also that Ferdinand will partner Vidic in the centre of defence and, if that’s true then I think it will be for the best in this game as the experience and composure that those two bring to the table will help De Gea enormously.

As for the rest of the team, it’s a tough one to call – especially in midfield but I do believe that Fergie will put out what he believes is his strongest possible eleven for this one which is going to be interesting to see.

I did hear some rumours that Cleverley could be fit for this one but I would say that it’s unlikely that he will start, even if fit and I expect Fergie to go with the Carrick/Fletcher central midfield with Rooney dropping deep to help out and getting forward to assist Hernandez.

Nani and Young seem the likeliest on the wings and it would be great to see Nani play a blinder (and perhaps even score a goal) after what Carragher did to his leg last season.

As for a prediction… well, my predictions so far this season have been worse than useless and this isn’t the kind of game to go making bold predictions about because anything could happen.

However, I can see goals in the game and I think the price on the Over 2.5 goals is decent enough to be worth a small punt.

The bet is 2 points Over 2.5 Goals @ 1.95 with Bet365.

Some good news coming out over the last day or two was that Rooney and Hernandez should be fit to return for this match (Jonny Evans is also fit again after his recent injury, apparently) and whilst scoring goals has hardly been our problem of late, I just feel that the team functions far better with Rooney in the side.

Sir Alex has been warning the players that they must lose the “cavalier” attitude they have adopted this season if they are to win the Premier League and I must admit to having mixed feelings on that because it has been brilliant to watch but watching us lift a trophy at the end of the season is just as enjoyable!

If it wasn’t for that “cavalier attitude” then we never would have seen the 8-2 demolition of Arsenal – a result which will forever go down in footballing history, we never would have seen the players publically rebuke Michael Carrick for playing a backpass when we were beating Chelsea 3-1 … and we probably never would have seen Basel come to Old Trafford and go ahead after being 2-0 down!

Anyway, Norwich are our opponents today and the visit of Basel in midweek was probably ideal preparation for this one. We’re expected to blow Norwich away in much the same way as we were expected to blow Basel away and so the midweek shocker will be fresh in the minds of everyone – nothing can be taken for granted in this game.

For a newly promoted team, Norwich have been ticking along quite nicely and currently sit in upper mid-division after two wins in their last two games but, to be honest, they have had an fairly nice fixture list in which to ease themselves into life at the top with Chelsea being by far their hardest opponents so far (and they were beaten 3-1 at Stamford Bridge in that game).

So, you simply have to expect Manchester United to continue their run of wins at Old Trafford in this one this afternoon and the only question is: by how many?

A win by a good three goals would not come as a surprise but, whilst Norwich have conceded at least one goal in every game so far this season, those three conceded against Chelsea were the most anyone has scored against them – in all of their other matches, their opponents have only managed one goal so, whilst I am wary of underestimating our goalscoring ability again, it is probably worth bearing this in mind before going crazy on an Asian Handicap bet (the Manchester United AH -2.5 is temptingly priced at 2.23 with Victor Chandler, for example).

No, I think I’m going to stick with a bet that won in our last match (and would have won in most of our games this season) and go for an early goal.

The bet is 3 points on the first goal being scored within 27 minutes @ 1.70 with Victor Chandler.

With five wins from our opening five matches, this is apparently our best ever start a League campaign under Sir Alex Ferguson (I actually found that stat hard to believe at first but there it is) and this would appear to be a decent opportunity to extend that to six from six if past results are anything to go by.

Since Stoke came into the Premier League a few seasons ago, we have beaten them every time we have met them whether it be at the Britannia Stadium or Old Trafford. Obviously, the games at their place tend to be closer but we have won all the same.

However, Stoke have become a solid Premier League outfit and this is largely down to their solid home form – very few teams go to the Britannia in a season and come away with three points and already this season, they have taken four points from two games there and those games were against Liverpool and Chelsea so that gives some idea of the task that lies ahead of us this afternoon.

The main problem I have had this season and the reason why my predictions have all gone largely awry is largely because I have underestimated us. I think we can’t score three goals and then we go and score five. I think a game will be tight and then we go and win 8-2. I think Wayne Rooney cannot possibly score in five consecutive matches and then he does exactly that. I think our defence will get found out and they keep a clean sheet!

It is time for this to stop, I think. This Manchester United squad look ravenous at the moment. They are hungrier for goals to such an extent that last weekend against Chelsea when I think the score was still 3-0, Michael Carrick played a backward pass in order to keep possession and almost the entire team turned on him and gave him a piece of their mind. They don’t just want to win games, they want to blow their opponents out of the water. They want to attack and score from the first minute until the last and if they concede one or two along the way, they brush it off and go looking for a few more of their own.

It’s just a far cry from the fairly low-scoring but functional nature of many of our performances, particularly away from home, in recent seasons and it has taken me a little bit of time to come to terms with it.

So, whilst I am wary that this is an away fixture against a very good home side, I feel that the best thing to do at this moment is to trust in the players to continue in the same vein until proven otherwise. Suddenly six wins from six doesn’t seem unlikely. For Rooney to score in those six matches doesn’t seem unlikely, either.

I’m going to stick my neck out and believe that we can win this one 2-0 or 3-1.

The bet is 2 points Manchester United -1.5 AH @ 2.6 with Bet365.

United’s tough start to the season continues this afternoon with an eagerly anticipated class with the team that I still expect to provide our closest challenge come the end of the season – Chelsea.

Fergie was saying something in his Press Conference yesterday about how Chelsea have escaped a lot of the media glare in the opening few matches of the season because all the attention has been focused on ourselves and Manchester City and something was going through my mind as I watched some of Chelsea’s match against Bayer Leverkusen in midweek.

If you take our European results into account then Chelsea’s start to the season has been just as good, result-wise, as our own and Manchester City’s with four wins and a draw but they are almost being treated by the media as “yesterday’s news”. Of course, this is largely down to the fact that ourselves and City have been banging in the goals and mostly winning pretty impressively whilst Chelsea have been winning without fireworks and also the fact that the two Manchester teams going at each other in a genuine two-way competition for the first time in decades makes for a great story and Chelsea aren’t part of it.

What this has meant is that their new coach, Andre Villas-Boas, has had a fairly smooth easing into his new role without his every last move (and mistake) scrutinised in the way that his many recent predecessors did and at the moment he looks like a very relaxed man who’s finding this English Premier League lark quite easy.

Our job this afternoon, of course, is to ensure that he travels home in no doubt as to the size of the task he has taken on. We’re not Stoke, we’re not Sunderland, we’re not Norwich or West Brom.  This is Manchester United and this is Old Trafford. We are the Champions, we intend to keep that title and we relish the challenge.

As I said, I watched some of Chelsea’s Champions League game in midweek and I was quite shocked at how pedestrian they looked. This was, of course, 24 hours before our own pretty uninspiring performance against Benfica on Wednesday where we looked equally pedestrian. The difference is that I had been watching a largely first-team Chelsea whereas our team against Benfica, whilst littered with quality, was a team half-full of players that have barely kicked a ball this season.

And this is where Fergie was cute on Wednesday as it gave him the chance to rest players like Ashley Young, Phil Jones and Anderson completely and give the likes of Nani little more than a run out so all of those players who have been part of our more exciting displays this season, if picked this afternoon, will be as fresh as daisies and raring to go again.

As a result, I hope to see our players get back to that high-tempo passing game which will hopefully bamboozle Chelsea as much as it has done most of our opponents so far this season. If we can do this and it all goes to plan then there’s a chance that this game could be won more comfortably than usual.

However, Chelsea do need to be respected and will certainly pose a threat to our defence which still looks slightly dodgy at times and a goal from them would not come as a surprise (I actually have this recurring thought that Torres might actually score it – players who haven’t scored for ages do tend to find their scoring boots against us, it seems).

This is not really a match I would like to get too heavily involved in from a betting perspective, so many things could happen. It could be another goal-fest, it could end 1-0 either way or even 1-1.

But, I do believe that there will be 2 or 3 goals scored and that is going to be the bet.

The bet is 2 points 2 or 3 Goals Scored @ 1.95 with Bet365.

Incidentally, Bet365 are running a special offer on this match today which means that you can get a free in-running bet on the match. See their website for full details.

By the time we kick-off against Bolton this evening, the results of matches featuring all of our main title rivals will already be known and it does seem highly unlikely that we’ll still be at the top of the league at that stage – what effect this will have on the team obviously remains to be seen.

However, Fergie will doubtless be stressing the importance of just getting our own job done and not paying too much attention to what goes on elsewhere – like he won’t be watching the results himself as they come in!

Our record against Bolton has generally been very good down the years and they have only managed to win this fixture once in the last nine (a 1-0 win almost four years ago) but there have been a few draws in the fixture down the years, including a 2-2 draw last season when we twice had to come from behind to grab a point.

Of course, our away record last season was generally pretty mediocre and we registered far more draws than we would normally get away with for a title winning campaign and I am still not 100% convinced that our away form has picked up. We obviously looked good in our two home games this season but our opening day away match against West Brom smacked of more of the same to me as we laboured to a 2-1 victory which could so easily have ended in another draw.

Bolton are generally pretty decent at home and didn’t lose too many there last season but they suffered a reverse in their only home match of this season so far – a 3-2 defeat against Manchester City.

What is going to be interesting to see this afternoon is exactly who Fergie puts on the field. Obviously, several of our players were involved in international matches in the last week or so and we get our Champions League campaign off with a tricky away tie against Benfica on Wednesday so these factors will probably influence his decision but it does seem to be a shame to make too many changes to a team that has been playing so well so maybe he’ll stick with more or less the same team that played Arsenal and make the changes for Benfica?

He was quoted in yesterday’s press conference as saying that Valencia will make the squad for this match and so I’m guessing that whilst Young will start, he will be subbed in order to give Valencia a run for the last 15-30 minutes or so and I’m looking forward to seeing Valencia back on the pitch again but he’s going to have to go some to displace Nani and Young in those wide positions on a regular basis, it seems.

Welbeck has started this season well and it is unfortunate that he suffered an injury in the game against Arsenal which will keep him out for this one but Hernandez is on the comeback trail after his own injury and should start alongside Rooney here but Rooney is another I wouldn’t be too surprised to see subbed in the latter stages should we get into any kind of lead.

The central midfield areas are going to be interesting – so far Anderson and Cleverley have been given the nod more often than not but I do wonder if Fergie might spring a surprise by bringing either Carrick or even Fletcher back in order to give one of those two a breather.

And then we have the defence – apparently Vidic remains injured but I believe Rio is fit but Evans, Jones and Smalling have all proved able deputies in the defensive positions and I suspect that Fergie might save Rio for the Benfica game.

De Gea looks likely to continue in goal and it will be interesting to see how he copes with the aerial threat of a player like Kevin Davies.

As for a prediction: well, the bookies seem to think that this will be a routine win for United but I would just like to see us put in a couple of convincing away displays before going overboard on the outright win. The markets I think are best looked into for games between these two sides are the ones involving goals because games between us are usually fairly high-scoring affairs and our games generally (when not playing one another) have usually been high scoring.

All three of our matches and all three of Bolton’s matches this season have featured at least three goals and I see no reason why today should be any different. However, the bookies do seem to be of the same view and so the price isn’t too great (around 1.65 at best).

So, perhaps looking at the Both Teams to Score market is the way to go and that’s what I suggest here.

The bet is 3 points Both Teams to Score @ 1.83 with Betfred.

Despite Tottenham always being a solid competitor in the Premier League, this fixture tends to be one of those which United fans fear the least for reasons which are hard to fathom. Basically, Tottenham just have a very poor record against us – especially Old Trafford and there seems to be no obvious explanation for this.

The bookies seem to be undeterred by the fact that we barely have a defence and have once again made us very strong favourites to take the points again this season.

It is perhaps not too difficult to see why though because our defence has probably been our weak link throughout pre-season but we have still beaten everyone before us because our attacking play has been exceptional and I would expect this to be even more apparent when we finally get back in front of our home crowd at Old Trafford for a fairly rare Monday evening kick-off.

The defence Fergie goes with for this one is going to be interesting. Rafael and Ferdinand are ruled out for weeks – possibly months – according to reports and whilst the situation with Vidic is a little more difficult to ascertain, it does look like he’ll be out for this one at least.

Despite missing our game against West Brom, Evra is said to be ready to return for this one and so he will no doubt resume duties on the left.

That leaves Smalling, Jones, Fabio and Evans to decide the cental and right-sided positions. I had initially thought that Fabio would take the right-back as his brother Rafael has always dealt well with the left-sided threat of Gareth Bale (it’s pretty crazy how we tend to see Fabio and Rafael as having an identical game, isn’t it?) but perhaps the bigger, stronger Smalling will be employed out there as he has certainly showed that he’s not totally out of his depth out there on the wing – in fact, he’s been pretty blimmin’ effective!

That leaves Evans and Jones to make up the central defence, I think.

Of course, the fact that Jones and Smalling played well together in the Euro Under 21s might come into Fergie’s thinking but somehow I cannot see Evans being totally neglected for this one so I think that the starting defence will be Smalling, Jones, Evans, Evra with Fabio on the bench and ready to replace either Evra (should his injury flare up) or Smalling (should Fergie decide to put him into the centre at some point).

The wide midfielders are mostly picking themselces at the moment with Nani and Young almost certain starters but the central midfield remains open to debate although Anderson and Carrick appear to be Fergie’s first choice duo at the moment.

Up-front, Rooney is on fire and is a certain starter, it looks like we’ll have to wait a little longer for the return of Hernandez (unless Fergie springs one almighty surprise) so there’s still a little unanswered question as to who partners him. Welbeck didn’t have the best of games against West Brom but Berbatov seems to be getting pushed further and further back in Fergie’s thoughts so that one’s anyone’s guess. Owen could even be a surprise inclusion.

A five-man midfield with Park playing an advanced role wouldn’t be an enormous surprise though because Park hasn’t featured in the “proper” games so far this season despite playing (and scoring) brilliantly in pre-season and he must surely be due a game.

The goalkeeping situation obviously remains a concern and I did think that perhaps Fergie would use this opportunity to give Lindegaard a chance as Spurs will no doubt launch high balls into the net for the handful Crouch to contest should De Gea play but I now think that Fergie will welcome this in an attempt to further fast-track De Gea’s Premier League education. There’s no hiding place at a club like Manchester United and the sooner De Gea realises this, the better, perhaps?

So, what will happen here? Well, I expect us to go out all guns blazing in an attempt to grab an early goal and whoever is playing in the full-back positions will be playing high up the field, nullifying the wide threats of Lennon and Bale.

There will be some nervy moments when Tottenham go on the attack and it will be interesting to see how our young defence copes with it. Personally, I’m confident that they’ll pass the test and I’m looking for us to keep a clean sheet and win this one perhaps 2-0.

I feel that the bookies aren’t so certain of this though as they expect this to be a fairly high scoring game (and I doubt they expect us to do all the scoring). I’m not convinced though. Tottenham just don’t score very many at Old Trafford – they never have and I’m going to gamble that they don’t score here.

The bet is going to be 2 points on UNDER 2.5 goals @ 2.20 with Stan James.