Sunday, 27th December 2009 – KO: 16:00

Luckily, due to the fact that it has been a week since our last match, the defensive crisis has had a chance to clear up a little bit and Fergie has confirmed that both Da Silva brothers are fit to play and he is hoping that one of either Vidic or Brown may be fit for this one.

If this is the case then it could mean that either Carrick or Fletcher can be moved back into their midfield position (I would have thought Fletcher more than Carrick).

Anyway, things are starting to look a bit brighter from the point of view of the squad.

What of this game?

Well, our two games against Hull last season both ended in close wins for United  (4-3 at Old Trafford and 1-0 at Hull) but it must be said that neither can really be used as a gauge of form between the two sides. The first game came during Hull’s purple patch at the beginning of the season. Towards the end of the season, after a really promising start, they went into freefall and came within a whisker of being relegated and it was on this last game of the season that we beat them 1-0 with an understrength side (it was another Darron Gibson thunderbolt from 30 yards that proved the difference that day).

Fortunately for them, results went their way that day and their Premier League status was confirmed for another season.

And so we meet them again today and we find them second from the bottom of the table – the main reason for this is that they have yet to win away from home and have only picked up two points from their nine away games. Their home form is substantially better (fifteen points from nine games including four wins).

So, being at home and having seen our performances in the last couple of weeks, they might well come into this one with a bit of confidence that they can cause a bit of an upset and possibly catapult themselves out of the relegation zone at the same time.

Personally, I think we will have too much for Hull regardless of who Fergie plays but I think it will be a close game. Only Tottenham (5-1 at the start of the season) have gone to Hull and really turned them over so far this season.

The thing with United at the moment is that we do look dodgy at the back and the strikers are extremely unpredictable. We could win this one 1-0 or 4-3 (just like last season) and neither result would come as a shock.

If we run out very convincing winners (as we have done in some of our away games so far this term) that would also not be a massive shock.

With this in mind, I am going to back United to beat Hull by two clear goals but with a very small stake.

The bet is 2 points Manchester United -1.5 AH @ 2.19 with Paddy Power.

Well, after overdosing on turkey and mince pies, this was just what was needed to bring me out of my Christmas slumber. An action-packed game with plenty of goalmouth action and, eventually, goals to match.

Fergie sprung a surprise by starting with both Brown and Vidic to give a back four of Rafael, Brown, Vidic and Evra. This was more like it and it allowed a far more sensible midfield of Valencia, Fletcher, Carrick and Giggs to line up in front of them.

With Rooney and Berby up front, Hull’s chances suddenly seemed to take a dive.

That wasn’t realy how the game panned out though. Plenty of possession from United (I don’t think Hull got a touch worthy of the name for the first three minutes) led to nothing in front of goal and Hull made the most of their own limited chances to give us quite a few scares.

The first half was petering out to a 0-0 but United’s pressing paid off in the very last minute when a sweet curling ball into the area was met by Rooney to take us 1-0 up at half-time.

The pressure was on us here today to take full advantage of Chelsea’s slip-up yesterday and I felt certain that the goal would settle us down in the second half and that we could run out 3-0 or 4-0 winners but Hull had other ideas and came out firing once again.

Around the 59 minute mark, Rooney played a backpass to his keeper that would have haunted him for months had we not gone on to win this match, it was loose, it was sloppy, it was intercepted and this caused all kinds of havoc in the United penalty area and led to a penalty for Hull (personally, I though Rafael hardly touched the guy and he went down far too easily but there you go).

The pen was converted and suddenly it was 1-1 and we had it all to do.

Rooney immediately acknowledged that it was his mistake that had led to the goal and it is one thing to admit to making a mistake, it is another to apologise for it but it is something else entirely to then do everything in your power to atone for the mistake but that is what he did and from that point until the end of the game, it was basically the Wayne Rooney show.

The run for the ball which led to his cross which left poor Andy Dawson with no option but to score into his own net was all about Wayne Rooney.

The exquisite nutmeg through-ball that left Berby with a tap-in was all about Wayne Rooney.

One way or another, Wayne Rooney had a hand in all four goals today. He probably won’t want reminding about the second but Fergie will probably take this kind of performance from him every week – even if it does cost us the odd goal.