Manchester United face Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford for the second time in recent weeks and after the victory in the Carling Cup it would seem a victory should be on the cards as a more experienced United side will line up against Wolves.
Anderson, Jonny Evans, Darron Gibson and Federico Macheda are all out with a virus that has not made life easy for Sir Alex Ferguson. Joining the aforementioned foursome on the sidelines will be Ryan Giggs, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Nani plus Darren Fletcher is a doubt.
Even with the victory over Wolves in October, Paul Scholes is not resting on laurels, he is wary of the threat they pose, “I know they haven’t had the best of starts this season but they’ve got players who can hurt you,” Scholes said.
“They showed they are capable of scoring goals at Old Trafford, they managed two, and I’m sure they’ll have a go on Saturday as well.”
“There are some teams that might not play the most attractive football but you have to find a way of winning games,” Scholes added.
United are the only unbeaten side left in the country and the match marks the 24th anniversary of Sir Alex’s tenure at United.
If selected in the starting eleven Dimitar Berbatov will make his 100th appearance for the club. Another who is likely to start is Gabriel Obertan whose performances in recent weeks have pleased the boss greatly.
Wolves boss Mick McCarthy is still without Jody Craddock, Adlene Guedioura, Michael Kightly and Ronald Zubar, though United should pay some attention to Matt Jarvis who caused the United defence some issues in the Carling Cup.
He is in very high spirits ahead of the game, “I’m playing well and everything seems to be going well at the moment,” said the winger.
“I’m enjoying playing against these players – I love taking them on and seeing how I fare against them.
“That’s my game, that’s how I play. I like taking on defenders and my team-mates need me to create chances for them – that’s why I’m in the team.
With Wolves’ last success at Old Trafford, Jarvis is keen to end that unwanted record, “Thirty years is a long time and we need to get that sorted!” added Jarvis.
“It’s going to be an extremely tough game because they’re at home which is a fortress for them and they’re a fantastic side.
“We’re going there with confidence on the back of the win against City.
“But we know we can’t afford to let our level of performance drop otherwise we’ll come unstuck.
“It’s a fantastic stadium and there’s going to be a lot of noise.
“They will no doubt look to put the ball in our box a lot and create a lot of chances so we’ve got to be clued-up and switched on for the full 90 minutes,” He concluded.
Five wins on the bounce have led to a renewed confidence at Old Trafford and this coupled with five clean sheets in eight matches proves United are back to something like their best and with today’s opponents begin the only Premier League team yet to keep a clean sheet, I think we can safely say there will be goals.
Prediction: 3-0 United
Probable Line Up: van der Sar; Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Obertan, Carrick, Scholes, Park; Hernandez, Berbatov.
