We’re less than an hour away from kickoff of tonight’s Champions League quarterfinal second leg showdown with Chelsea, and I don’t know about you, but my cup runneth over with anticipation and excitement.

The task at hand is pretty simple. Thanks to last week’s 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge, all United need to do is, well, not lose. Even if it’s a 6-6 draw, it’ll see us through to the semis for the fourth time in the last five seasons, with the likely opponent being Schalke, who have quite the comfortable lead on Inter heading into the home leg of their tie tomorrow.

With the lineup that Fergie’s sending out tonight, it looks like we’re not only looking to protect that lead, but we should also have every opportunity to increase it, especially with Chelsea needing to score.

There aren’t any major surprises in United’s starting XI, though it is mildly surprising to see that Anderson isn’t even on the bench tonight, with Darron Gibson, Paul Scholes, and Antonio Valencia being our midfield options off of the bench.

So, how do I see the match playing out? Continue reading

There was a point not too long ago where we had every reason to worry about United’s depth and how far it’d be able to carry us this season.

It can still be said that our depth isn’t what we’d like it to be, or what it will hopefully be come the start of next season, but Saturday’s 2-0 win over Fulham certainly offered up plenty of reason to feel confident about how our squad can see us through to a successful stretch run.

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Coming after arguably our biggest win of the season and before our biggest game of the season, Saturday’s visit from Fulham could well be a troublesome match, but even without our player of the moment, there shouldn’t be any letdown from a United side that’s as high on confidence as it’s been all season.

United welcome Mark Hughes back to his old haunts off the heels of Wednesday night’s 1-0 Champions League quarterfinal win at Chelsea, their first win at Stamford Bridge in almost nine years.

With the second leg of the Chelsea tie coming on Tuesday, you would have to expect some key names to sit on Saturday. That could include Rio Ferdinand, who made his return and played the full 90 minutes against Chelsea after it was initially feared that he was lost for the season. Given that his presence is far more important for Tuesday than it is for Saturday, it would appear likely that Chris Smalling will slot into the starting lineup to face his former side.

One player won’t definitely won’t be on the pitch against Fulham is Wayne Rooney, whose two-match suspension for swearing in front of the TV cameras after sealing his hat trick against West Ham was upheld. With Rooney in fine form at the moment, it’ll be one less worry for the visitors, but there’s a good chance that he would have been rested on Saturday even if he wasn’t suspended. Not only is there the quick turnaround to consider, but Dimitar Berbatov deserves an extended runout after being used primarily as a substitute recently.

A win would put United 10 points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League, and with the struggling Gunners visiting Blackpool on Sunday, there could well be an opportunity to come out of this weekend even closer to #19, even with Arsene Wenger’s side still possessing a game in hand.

The chances are high for United to do their part, as we’ve won six in a row at home against Fulham since a 3-1 loss in October of 2003. In those six wins, we’ve outscored the Cottagers 18-3, and we’ve held them scoreless in each of their last three trips to Old Trafford.

There’s no indication that things will be any different this time around. Fulham have posted only one win away from home this season, which is why they’re 10th instead of making a serious run at challenging Liverpool for sixth.

We let a win slip away against this same side in August in a 2-2 draw, the first of United’s many rollercoaster away trips this season. United took a late lead through a Brede Hangeland own goal, and shortly thereafter, Nani missed a penalty that would’ve all but salted the game away. That proved to be costly, as Hangeland atoned for his mistake by heading home the equalizer.

Those dropped points and all of the others that were dropped in similar positions haven’t come back to be as hurtful as it was once thought they could be, but with that said, it sure would’ve been nice to be even closer to the title than we are right now, wouldn’t it?

With Clint Dempsey having his best Premier League season and Bobby Zamora back and firing in the goals after being out of action for more than five months, Fulham have the firepower to cause a few problems a side that won’t be at full strength. But even without Rooney, United certainly have more than enough firepower and quality of their own to score a seventh straight home win over the Cottagers.

Prediction: Manchester United 2-0 Fulham

Since a 3-0 win at Chelsea in April 2002, Manchester United had made 10 trips to Stamford Bridge prior to last night’s Champions League encounter. In those ten trips, there’s been controversy, missed opportunities, close losses, late losses, and overall, a lot of disappointment, with an unsightly record of seven defeats and three draws.

It’s safe to say United couldn’t have picked a better time to break that drought than last night, and it more than makes up for the previous 10 winless trips, as it puts us firmly in the driver’s seat for another trip to the Champions League semis.

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As much of a glorious moment as his first hat trick of the season should have been, Wayne Rooney’s been dominating the headlines not for his achievement at West Ham, but for what occurred, or to be more precise, what was said in the aftermath.

By now, anyone who’s reading this (well, I’d assume so) knows that, in the midst of celebrating after he converted a 79th minute penalty to seal his hat trick and put United ahead 3-2 only 15 minutes after behind down 2-0 at Upton Park, Rooney looked into the camera and delivered a clear message with an even clearer F-bomb.

Now, I heard it when it was said and thought, ‘well, perhaps he shouldn’t have said that…’ but dismissed it, since it was in the heat of the moment and the significance of the goal for Rooney and for United’s hold on their place at the top of the heap in the Premier League title race.

Were it not directed at the camera, it would seem to be safe to assume that it’d be a non-issue, but as it was, it comes as no surprise that the FA has elected to punish him for his lack of a filter. What is surprising though is the punishment, a two-match ban, which was handed down today by the FA.

United are set to appeal the suspension and attempt to get it halved, but as it stands, he won’t be available for United’s next two domestic fixtures, a Premier League home match against Fulham and an FA Cup semifinal derby against City. And if his forthcoming appeal is rejected, the FA could see fit to extend the suspension, which means he could also miss United’s visit to Newcastle on the 19th.

Does the punishment fit the crime, or is the FA overreacting?

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