Although United recorded a convincing win away against Portsmouth past weekend, I wouldn’t say they’re in good form. They’re playing well of course, but that’s just not the same old “Red Devils” squad we all got used to be watching in the past years. Many would probably now say the main reason for that is the departure of their biggest star Cristiano Ronaldo, but I wouldn’t agree with that either. United still has got a powerful squad this season too, which needs just a bit more polishing to shine fully and be in their well-known top shape. Alex Ferguson won’t have his main centre back Rio Ferdinand available. It’s interesting that his two strikers in the last game were Rooney and Scholes, which surely isn’t the natural position of the veteran Englishman. Owen and Berbatov were on the bench, but Ferguson decided to go with some odd formation. However, that didn’t bother his team much to play the match vs. Portsmouth at the top level and record a convincing 4:1 win. Usually all their rivals in this season’s Premiership are incapable of upsetting United in Manchester, while I have to state the fact that same exact team recorded two utterly disappointing results in the CL by (CSKA 3:3, Besiktas 0:1). They are aware they did a pretty unwise thing, so they certainly can’t repeat such a poor performance in the Carling Cup too.
Excellent
It could be said Tottenham has been recording some really admirable results this season. They’re third in the Premiership at the moment, right behind the leading Chelsea and Manchester Utd. They’re also doing great in the Carling Cup, where they reached the ¼ finals. They will be facing a very tough challenge, the defending champs from Manchester, but after their most recent performances, they surely have many reasons to be optimistic. Hotspurs’ coach Harry Redknapp has got some squad problems before this game as he stated a few of his players like Hutton, Bale, Jenas and Keane aren’t fully ready for this game. Besides, their centre-back duo Woodgate-King also won’t be on the pitch, so Dawson and Bassong will again be playing there. It’s clear Tottenham will be having some offensive problems in case Keane won’t be on the pitch, who was replaced by Peter Crouch in the last game and played poorly. I’d say Tot’nam is in a good shape, so they can’t be taken lightly despite the problems they’re having. They’re carried by all these great results and have arrived to Manchester with the intention of not losing, while they won’t be hesitating to go for the win as well.
Devilish victory of the hosts
Manchester is the favorite at this game, primarily due to the reason of playing at home. Tottenham isn’t without chances, but the hosts are just much closer to the win. Alex Ferguson’s players did a great job in Portsmouth, so they will be boosted by that 4:1 win when facing this London side. The hosts could have a lot of opportunities to score due to the fact Tottenham will again be without their main defensive duo King-Woodgate, who are usually a true “wall” in front of their own goal. I believe in United’s team, their quality, and in the knowledge of the experienced Scot Ferguson so I will advise you to try with a home win bet.
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Prediction:
Tip: 1
Odd: 2.11
Bookie: Bet365
Stake: 7 /10
Tipster: Kather
