Manchester United can go top of the Premier League on Saturday evening as the title race gets tight again.

Chelsea’s unexpected defeat to Manchester City threw the competition wide open again and there’s little to split the Reds and the Blues, and indeed Arsenal, in the betting on this season’s Premier League winner. Chelsea head the market at 2.7 (7-4) with United close behind at 2.74 (7-4) and the Gunners 3.85 (14-5) shots.

Wolves stand between the Reds and the summit this weekend and the odds suggest the champions will get their own way – the home team are an enormous 12 (11-1) to win with Betfair. Faithful United backers can get 1.37 (4-11) while the draw trades at 5.3 (9-2).

Those short odds on a Reds win are unsurprising as Mick McCarthy’s men are stuck in rut with just one league win this year. By contrast, United are top of the form table with four victories and a draw from their last six games in England’s top division.

The Molineux outfit are the league’s lowest scorers with just 21 goals and will come up against the second most parsimonious backline on Saturday evening. The odds on a United clean sheet are tight at 1.92 (10-11) but they should be taken.

By and large Wanderers have kept things fairly tidy at the back, rarely getting hammered but never quite doing enough to snatch a share of the points or even taking all three. It’s likely they’ll lineup in a defensive formation, despite their chronic need for points. The Reds are likely to keep one eye on AC Milan’s Champions League visit and Fergie may pull one of two key performers off should United hold a two goal advantage. In short, don’t expect a heavy win.

With that in mind, a correct score bet of 2-0 appeals at 7 (6-1) as does the ‘draw/United’ half-time/full-time result at 4.7 (a little over 7-2).

With the rest of the Premier League in FA Cup action the pressure is on United to clamber above Chelsea and Arsenal with a win over Hull this weekend.

A victory would make the Reds the first top flight team to reach 50 points this season and take them two clear of those London rivals. Three points is imperative.

And if Betfair layers are to be believed it will be achieved with little fuss as United go in to the game as overwhelming 1.17 (1-6) favourites.

Continue reading “Manchester United to top the table”

The 2009/2010 Barclays Premier League fixtures were announced at 10am today, with Manchester United playing their first game against newly promoted Birmingham at Old Trafford.

An away trip to Burnley follows before an expected cracker of a game at Old Trafford on 29 August against Arsenal, followed by the international break and then a trip to White Hart Lane to play Tottenham Hotspurs.

A look at United’s fixtures against the top four sides:

Continue reading “Manchester United start title defence with Birmingham, Burnley, Arsenal and Tottenham”

Amidst the supposed gloom and transfer kerfuffle, Manchester United, as if like an afterthought, return to playing action against Aberdeen tomorrow.

So much has one man taken the wind out of any success or pre-season, that so little is being talked about our forthcoming clash against a side with a rich history.

Continue reading “United Return to Action From Saturday As Queiroz Departs”

Behold! Squeaky bum time is approaching and approaching fast for Manchester United and if you think that I am talking about the remaining five fixtures that Fergie’s men have left in March, you are gravely mistaken. Nay, it is not March which worries me, but April… that is a different story.

Of Manchester United’s eighteen possible fixtures left, nine of them would be next month. Aside from the four Premier League fixtures, they could have an additional four Champions League games and, if they get past Portsmouth on Saturday, the FA Cup semi-final is conveniently placed between the two legs of the Champions League quarter-finals (in place of a Premier League fixture against Middlesbrough).

Oh, did I mention that they will also be taking on Arsenal and Chelsea?

So onto the actual fixtures:

Continue reading “Manchester United’s tough, tough April fixtures list”

There has been a lot of talk on midfielders in the comments section, I realise Penguin did a post on this topic, however, his was more centred on individuals whereas I will be looking at partnerships as well. And there is a big decision to be made by SAF on who to play in the centre of the park on Tuesday when we host Lyon in the second leg of the tie.

Continue reading “SAF’s European Headache”

Well I’m going to start by admitting that like most fans on this site I was extremely disappointed that we drew against Lyon as we could have had a much easier ride to the last eight. But I am delighted with the teams Arsenal and Liverpool got, which were Milan and Inter respectively.

However, when you look at the teams they could have faced, Barca, A.C, Inter, Real or Sevilla ( just Liverpool ) and Porto ( just Arsenal ) they always had a massive chance of getting a tough tie. Celtic vs. Barca is also a good tie.

Onto our own tie though, we could have had an easier team I still believe we will go through as Lyon are not the side they were a few years ago. And to be honest, the French League isn’t that great, so winning it six times in a row isn’t that much of a great achievement.

Continue reading “Manchester United and the Champions’ League”

Update: Report will be in later on. Nothing to write about in all honesty though. We were utter crap but Vida bailed us out.

Even the official site confirms that Rooney will be in the squad. Personally I am apprehensive about playing Rooney so soon even if it is for ten minutes. I can’t believe SAF would take such a gamble, given his stance during the world cup last year. Granted, he’s not the sort to take risks on his top men – which would mean that Rooney has shown superhuman healing abilities (Claire Bennet, of Heroes fame, style )

But there is a chance that he is playing Rooney more out of desperation, in case we are faced with a dire situation.

Oh well, we’ll have to trust Fergie’s judgment on this one. Bring ‘em on! What do you reckon will be the formation?

We’ll try bringing you updates, but we can’t promise as in all likelihood we’ll be too busy watching the game. While you are waiting for the game you might head over and vote for Red Rants too. Or discuss away in the comments.

FULL TIME:
Saha showed what we’ve been missing all along this season. A target man. His introduction made so much of a difference. Makes one realize how important he was to our blazing start last season. A headed goal was something we were never likely to have got prior to this game. Speaks a lot about our season from now on, as we rely on an injury prone striker.

The game was scrappy, with plenty of possession but the ball given away numerous times. Evra however was immense, as he was in the first half. His tackling has also improved greatly. My man of the match by a mile. Hargreaves was also good, doing the tidying up job pretty well. Great buy indeed.

That’s it for now from me. Detailed match report later.

FIRST HALF:
United have been bossing possession, but have been clueless as far as making use of it. Familiar story, isn’t it? Eagles, Tevez, Anderson and Nani are our attacking quartet. Scholes and Hargreaves are in our midfield. Saha was on the bench. Nothing remotely threatening has come throughout the half, despite some 7 odd shots from outside the box.

Oh did I mention, Patrice Evra has been immense. Most of our promising build-ups have been from the left channel.

Sad story really. Pray lads, pray for your life that Saha has a blinder.

Half Time Substitution: Saha replaces a very quiet Anderson. Come on Louis!

Watch this space for updates. Hopefully I should bring you some! Won’t promise you though, if I get carried away by the game. Feel free to discuss away.

Watch this space for updates as we get match news.

Update: Nani scores. A scrappy win. But was it a pleasant sight! Anyway, still plenty of cracks to paper over. All in the report tomorrow. Sorry for not updating as promised, but I will get out a decent enough match report to make up for it.