Manchester United take on neighbours Wigan Athletic at Old Trafford which will probably see talismanic striker Wayne Rooney return to first-team action since mid-October... Rooney has not featured for the club since he came on a substitute in the home draw against West Brom... After a much-hyped contract dispute with the club which saw him become the highest-paid English footballer ever, Rooney will look to win the hearts of the fans who were gravely disappointed by his behaviour...
United barely escaped with a lucky point at Villa Park last weekend to maintain their unbeaten streak in all competitions as a youthful Aston Villa side outplayed the Red Devils completely save for the last 15 minutes of play... However, Chelsea's shock loss to Sunderland at home saw the Blues' lead at the top slashed to 2 points ahead of Arsenal & 3 points of United, springing life into the title race... With injury-plagued Chelsea facing a tough task away at Birmingham City, United should look to earn three full points at Old Trafford to gain advantage in the points table...
History is on the side of the Red Devils as they have won their last 10 league outings against the Latics... Last season, United thumped Wigan 5-0 in both home & away fixtures... United need to regain their scoring form, and no better occasion than against Wigan... However, inconsistent Wigan cannot be slightly underestimated as they won at Tottenham a week after a 6-0 defeat by Chelsea earlier this season... In their recent outings, Wigan held Liverpool to a 1-1 draw & also beat West Brom at the DW Stadium...
On the injury front, defenders Rio Ferdinand & Chris Smalling may be doubtful to play as they are carrying minor injuries following England's midweek friendly defeat by France... Jonny Evans may be in line for a start tomorrow alongside skipper Vidic after a string of below-par performances earlier this season... Evra & Brown are expected to start as full-backs since Rafael is out injured, though O'shea may get the nod ahead of Brown since he looked out-of-sorts last week against Stewart Downing...
In the midfield, Fletcher & Carrick will look to redeem themselves after the game against Villa... Scholes will probably be rested for the game considering United's Champions League trip to Glasgow on Wednesday... Nani will be plying his trade on the flanks with Obertan tipped to start in view of his impressive performances of late...
Sir Alex told a radio station that Rooney may come on a substitute against the Latics since the gaffer intends to play him in the starting XI vs. Rangers... This means that Berbatov will start upfront with Hernandez, though Macheda has an outside chance of making it following his stunning goal from 20 yards last weekend...
My Starting XI: Van der Sar, Brown/O'shea, Evans, Vidic, Evra, Nani, Fletcher, Carrick, Obertan, Berbatov, Hernandez
What are your predictions on tomorrow's scoreline??? I believe this might be the game United finally run riot! So I'm going for a 6-0 win over Wigan!!! Let everyone know yours - leave your comments below or just drop me a line on Twitter @AbhinavCJ...
Participate in the poll on the blog & vote for the Red Devil you believe has been vital to our squad this season! Eager to know what you guys think...
Red Devils Reign, United Again!!!
That's all Folks!
Yours,
CJ
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