Despite being less impressive this season and not having Wayne Rooney at his best, Man Utd. remain the only unbeaten side from the Premier League in their opening 15 league matches (8W, 7D) and have lost just once in 29 matches in all competitions. They have a perfect record on Old Traford (7 wins and a draw), scoring an average of 3 goals per game. No selection worries for Sir Alex, as Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes have recovered, while Wes Brown and Jonny Evans are also available
On top of the table
Arsenal is on top of the table, level on points with Man City, but with a game in hand, and one point clear of Man Utd. The Gunners are on a four games winning run in all competitions and have won four out of their last five league games, while they also boast the best away record from the league (5W, 2D, 1L), but this is the big test for Wenger`s side. Kieran Gibbs is out, while Cesc Fabregas is doubtful and Wenger has rated him with only a “small chance” of facing United.
The Gunners against the tradition
Arsenal have always been competitive and a real title challenger, but if they want to win their first silverware since 2005, they need to improve their stats against arch rivals, as Arsenal`s record in their last 10 games in all competitions against Man Utd and Chelsea is: P10 W0 D1 L9 F5 A22 and the Gunners have lost seven of their last nine trips to Old Trafford in league and cup. It will be the moment of truth for Wenger`s lads and their unproven goalie Fabianski and the central defensive pairing of Koscielny and Squillaci. Arsenal`s philosophy is to score one more than they concede (they have failed to score only on 3 of their 25 competitive games this season), so goals shouldn`t be a problem for the Gunners. Rooney loves to score against Arsenal, as he scored his first Premier League goal and his first league goal for Manchester against the Gunners, while Berbatov (11 league goals this season), Chamakh (7 league goals) or Nasri (12 goals/8 in the league), who scored 4 goals in the last 3 rounds, are good bets in the scorers market. This is a hard game to predict, but there should be some goals with free-scoring Arsenal and their shaky defense (8 out of the last 10 head-to-heads have been Overs).
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Prediction:
Tip: Over 2.5
Odd: 1.93
Bookie: 188Bet
Manchester United has got exactly 3 points more than Valencia and this match will decide which one of these two teams will top the group C at the end. Sir Alex has got an excellent side at his disposal, and it isn’t too different from the last season, so MU is playing great in all competitions despite the tough competition they’re constantly facing. Nani, Chicarito, and Berbatov are the main offensive foundation of their team this season, while the defense per usual has got two great men in the likes of Vidic and Ferdinand. Although MU lost to West Ham by 4:0 in the Carling cup on the road, I think that hasn’t got too much to do with the current form as they fielded many B or C team players and decided to focus more on EPL and CL.
Better at home than away
Valencia has proven its quality. They’re 2nd in the standings with a 3-1-1 record. They also lost their last match similar to Manchester United, against Real Madrid by 2:0 on the road so they don’t have much to be sorry about. Juan Mata is one of the biggest stars on their squad, but of course not everything is spinning around just one player. Valencia primarily plays well as a whole and they’re doing it in a very attractive way. It should be mentioned they’re playing much better at home than away, so we can’t say they’re underdogs here but they’re certainly a much weaker side at least on paper than MU, so it’s no surprise the odds on them are huge. I think their chances exist in this match, but very few sides manages to steal points from the Old Trafford.
Derby
This could be one of the derbies of the round in CL, even though all the last round matches in this competition usually have great significance and most or all of the sides are trying to record a good result or at least improve the impression they left in the previous 5 rounds. MU is the more quality side but Valencia also proved they can get far in this year’s CL. My advice will be a HW, possibly by more than one goal difference, and I don’t see a way for Valencia to get out of this road match with points in their pockets.
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Prediction:
Tip: 1 AH (-1)
Odd: 2.28
Bookie: 188bet
Glasgow Rangers are having a difficult task in front of themselves, because they require a win against the English giants. In their last match Rangers managed to make 2 shots towards United`s goal. They miss creativity and determination. They won only 1 out of last 14 Champions League matches.
United great
United have great records in the Champions League, and they require only a point in this match. They won 8 out of 9 away matches in the CL, so they can definetly hope for some points in this match. Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Darren Fletcher, and Darron Gibson are not part of the travelling squad. But, Wayne Rooney is opted to start the match, he will be most hungry for a goal in this match.
United has a quest
United have not conceded a goal in this Champions League, they play great and dominate this group. I think that they will go for a win in this match, and that they will achieve a minimum victory. They are more than capable of stopping Ranger`s attacks, and I think that there will not be many goals in this match.
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Prediction:
Tip: Under 2.5
Odd: 1.91
Bookie: William Hill
Still tough and fighting hard
Tony Pulis is continuing to do excellent work in Stoke as his side is placed at the 9th spot of the EPL and it could be said he deserves the most credit that his side still hasn’t been in the relegation battle ever since they got back to the elite league. They’re still the better side when playing on their Brittania stadium than on the road. They’ve started the season with 3 defeats but since then they were undefeated in the past 4 matches, out of which they’ve won 3. Dean Whitehead is suspended, while Ricardo Fuller could find himself on the bench after recovering from an injury.
Focusing on the good results
The past 48 hours have been crazy at the Old Trafford as the dust had risen up about Rooney has finally got calmed won and the English international has signed a 5-year deal with the United. It seemed like Rooney would’ve surely be gone from the Old Trafford but now it’s all worked out and we can again focus on football in Manchester. Focusing on that is exactly what’s needed the most for the Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, which has wasted a 2-goal lead for the 3rd time this season. The Red Devils are 4th in the EPL standings, 5 points behind the leading Chelsea, and on the road so far they’ve seemed quite vulnerable this year as they have 4 draws out of 4 matches they’ve played there this year.
Another narrow away win?
United won all of their 4 encounters played over the past 2 seasons, and it should also be noted that Stoke hasn’t scored a single goal during those clashes. Two wins they’ve recorded on their Brittania stadium have been very narrow, 1:0 and 2:0 each so something similar is expected this time as well. The odds for an under 2.5 are tempting and it’s really rare to see Stoke conceding more than 2 goals at home.
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Prediction:
Tip: Under 2.5
Odd: 1.94
Bookie: Pinnacle
Tony Pulis is continuing to do excellent work in Stoke as his side is placed at the 9th spot of the EPL and it could be said he deserves the most credit that his side still hasn’t been in the relegation battle ever since they got back to the elite league. They’re still the better side when playing on their Brittania stadium than on the road. They’ve started the season with 3 defeats but since then they were undefeated in the past 4 matches, out of which they’ve won 3. Dean Whitehead is suspended, while Ricardo Fuller could find himself on the bench after recovering from an injury.
Focusing on the good results
The past 48 hours have been crazy at the Old Trafford as the dust had risen up about Rooney has finally got calmed won and the English international has signed a 5-year deal with the United. It seemed like Rooney would’ve surely be gone from the Old Trafford but now it’s all worked out and we can again focus on football in Manchester. Focusing on that is exactly what’s needed the most for the Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, which has wasted a 2-goal lead for the 3rd time this season. The Red Devils are 4th in the EPL standings, 5 points behind the leading Chelsea, and on the road so far they’ve seemed quite vulnerable this year as they have 4 draws out of 4 matches they’ve played there this year.
Another narrow away win?
United won all of their 4 encounters played over the past 2 seasons, and it should also be noted that Stoke hasn’t scored a single goal during those clashes. Two wins they’ve recorded on their Brittania stadium have been very narrow, 1:0 and 2:0 each so something similar is expected this time as well. The odds for an under 2.5 are tempting and it’s really rare to see Stoke conceding more than 2 goals at home.
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Prediction:
Tip: Under 2.5
Odd: 1.94
Bookie: Pinnacle
Probable starting eleven: Mignolet; Onuoha, Bramble, Turner, Bardsley; Al-Muhammadi, Henderson, Cattermole, Malbranque; Bent, Gyan. Sunderland is having problems with injuries. Anton Ferdinand, John Mensah and Kieran Richardson are all injured and probably will not play. Of course on loan United striker Danny Welbeck won`t play as part of agreement. David Meyler and Fraizer Campbell are out due to injuries. Speking of Sunderland we must say that they have an excellent record against the top teams. They won against manchester City and played draw against Arsenal and Liverpool.
Without a win on road
Probable starting eleven: Van der Sar; Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Nani, Fletcher, Anderson, Park; Berbatov, Hernandez. Sir Alex Ferguson will be without injured Wayne Rooney, Antonio Valencia and Ryan Giggs, while Paul Scholes is doubtfil. Rio Ferdinand is ready, but it is a question if he will play. It is interesting that Manchester United is still without a victory on road in Premiership.
Sunderland is able to stay unbeaten
I think Sunderland is able to stay unbeaten. They are playing at home, they are good against the top teams and Manchester United away form isn`t anything special. Yes, Manchester played three draws against Fulham, Everton and Bolton. On other side Sunderland is unbeaten at home. So, I think another draw for Manchester is very probable, even more because the team have hard game against Valencia at Tuesday in UEFA Champions League.
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Prediction:
Tip: X
Odd: 3.68
Bookie: Pinnacle
Owen Coyle rested some players in the Carling Cup so they`d be ready for this match, the visit of Manchester United, a fixture to highlight in any clubs calendar. Well, his team got knocked out of the cup by his old side, Burnley, and I am of the opinion his current side isn`t going to climb up any further from 12th when the clock hits 2pm. That will have to wait for another day. They`re going to have their hands full here with Man U, who are not just out for the 3 points, but a large goal difference too, seeing as Chelsea seems to want to get the bookmakers to pay out before Christmas. With terrible draws at Fulham and Everton, they will come at Bolton hard from the get go. Its a good thing Bolton will have their keeper, Jussi Jaaskelainen, back to help, although I`m afraid it won`t be enough. They`re going to surrender goals here.
Keep walking
United have alternated wins with disappointing draws all season so far and they now lie 3rd, behind Arsenal and runaway leaders Chelsea. It`s their inability to shut teams down that has cost them, with the team letting Everton and Fulham back into games that should have been buried long before. As mentioned, they let Scunthorpe score twice against them, and I would be more concerned about that, than the fact they put 5 past them. Berbatov seems to have located his scoring boots, finally, and singlehandedly dragged United across the finishing line, netting a hattrick in a 3-2 win over Liverpool. Michael Owen also got in on the action in midweek against Scunthorpe. With the defence having that question mark over them, they will need to just keep scoring till the final whistle blows, and that is what I think they will do. They`ll also want this truly dead and buried early, so I are expecting Alex Ferguson to pick his strongest possible team for this one because United cannot afford to drop anymore points so early in the season.
A big difference
Bolton and Manchester United have played each other 22 times in the Premier League and United have 15 wins compared to Bolton’s 3 and of the last 10 clashes, Manchester United have won 9 of them. I considered both teams to score, but I think with a United win priced quite nicely at 1.55 there is no reason to mess about here. Take Manchester United to win more than 1 goals.
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Prediction:
Tip: 2 AH (-1.5)
Odd: 2.51
Bookie: 10bet
Manchester United has disappointed their fans in their CL opener of the new season by only drawing 0:0 to Scottish Rangers at their Old Trafford. Although Sir Alex Ferguson used a bit weaker squad than the usual, leaving players like Van der Sar, Vidic or Berbatov on the bench, nobody still expected them to be unable to use their domination on the pitch and convert it into goals. That still didn’t happen so the Red Devils’ squad will have to make up for the 2nd consecutive disappointment (last weekend wasted a 3:1 lead against Everton in the added time), in front of their fans and there’s no dilemma Ferguson will use the best lineup possible.
European success
Liverpool squad won at home in the first match of the EL group stages against Romanian Steaua by as much as 4:1 at home. Their performance wasn’t as convincing as the final result is showing but still the Reds should get the credit as they won convincingly using mostly their reserves, so they played without Torres, Kuyt, Gerrard or Jovanovic amongst others. In the EPL they’re not too brilliant, being in the mid-table area at the moment and I believe they will hardly get a chance to enter the race for the title this year.
The derby for a better Sunday afternoon
One of the biggest derbies of EPL will be played this weekend in Manchester, when the hosting United will face Liverpool. If we exclude the letdown they had a few days ago at home against Rangers, the Red Devils have been playing terrific at the Old Trafford so far this season, having 2 wins out of 2 matches with a 6:0 goal difference. Liverpool showed all of its inferiority in their only derby match played so far this season, losing to United’s city rival Man.City on the road by comfortable 3:0, while last week they barely recorded a 0:0 draw away in Birmingham. Manchester will be with the full squad and since they’re currently a lot better team I think they will celebrate here quite easily, and thus I am going for a bet on the home win.
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Prediction:
Tip: 1 AH (-1)
Odd: 2.30
Bookie: 188bet
Manchester United have to be low on confidence as they were equalized after being 3:1 up at Goodison Park against Everton in the 90th Minute conceding 2 goals. The Champions League couldn`t have come at any worse moment than this, they recently conceded against Fulham in the 90th minute and lost points and now against Everton 2 in the 90th i
Rangers in great form
Rangers are in great form they have won the first 4 matches in the Scotish SPL and they are looking really good. I watched one of their friendly games against Newcastle and they were very good and i liked their style of play. This will no doubt be a very tough match for them as they are going to Old Trafford, but i really think that they can scrape a point if they play good in this match.
0:0 at halftime
I expect here a solid match in which Rangers will try and ruin the game with fouls and i expect them to do so until halftime. I think that this match could end as a goalless draw, but i will go for the halftime score 0:0.
GL!
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Prediction:
Tip: 0:0 HT
Odd: 3.80
Bookie: Unibet
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