The Opposition
The home team go into the game in their worst form of the season, having lost five of their last six games in all competitions and will surely be happy with a point from tonight's match up. Ian Holloway's men have been the surprise package of the season following promotion via the play offs with their entertaining brand of attacking football. However, their poor run of form leaves them just seven points off the bottom after a haul of 28 points from their 22 games and in danger of being sucked into the relegation scrap.
Their confidence may well be further undermined by the ongoing saga revolving around their best player Charlie Adam who yesterday handed in a transfer request following interest from Liverpool amongst others. He is expected to play tonight but his mind cannot be fully on the task in hand and United will look to exploit any uncertainty.
The leading scorer is DJ Campbell who is expected to return tonight having missed Saturday's defeat by Sunderland. It is worth noting that the striker has scored five goals in his last six appearances for the club but this is unlikely to send shock waves through the away team dressing room ahead of the game.
Predicting the Red Devils line-up is always a bit of a lottery but I would expect a vaguely similar team to last time out against Birmingham to take the field. Obvious changes to this will be the likely return of Rafael at full back and Fletcher for the injured Carrick in midfield. It is not clear whether Rio Ferdinand will return after a slight injury or whether the capable deputy Chris Smalling will continue to partner Vidic at the heart of the defence. With Anderson not always being 100% convincing away from home, there is a possibility that Sir Alex will recall Paul Scholes into centre midfield as he is in need of games after a lengthy absence. Playing two games in quick succession is not always what the boss looks to do with Ryan Giggs but he was withdrawn after an hour on Saturday so will be expected to take his place at Bloomfield Road.
Looking to continue their fine form up front will surely be Berbatov and Rooney with Owen expected to be selected for the weekend FA Cup fixture away at Southampton. It is uncertain whether Hernandez is available for tonight after missing Saturday, but it may be the little Mexican was given the game off following a busy first season at Old Trafford.
Prediction
It is about time that both performance and result come together in an away game for United, and I think that tonight could well be the night. Confidence should be sky high and with the opposition being at a low ebb and generally short on quality, three points should be straightforward so I will go for a 3-0 away victory. On the score sheet will be Rooney with two and Nani.
Three points tonight will mean United move five points clear of nearest rivals Arsenal and six ahead of City and still with a game in hand on our Manchester rivals.
Hello mate - just wanted to say that I've been reading the blog since I saw a comment you made on the RoM blog.
ReplyDeleteYour writing is great - proper, detailed previews and reviews with some thought behind them. Although I think Rooney to get a brace is probably a little too optimistic ;-)
Enjoying it a lot - kudos on the good work, and keep it up!