Carling Cup Quarter-Final Preview: West Ham United v Manchester United

Manchester United make the trip down South to defend their Carling Cup crown against West Ham United at Upton Park.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s team come off the back of a thumping 7-1 win in the Premier League against Blackburn Rovers. However, Dimitar Berbatov’s five-goal tally is unlikely to stop the manager making a number of changes for this game.

The Carling Cup is the first trophy that any top-flight side can win each season but over the last few years, managers have seen the trophy as a chance to rest big players and blood young talent.

Wayne Rooney is likely to join Berbatov on the bench as Mexican forward Javier Hernandez and Italian Federico Macheda look the most likely partnership to start this game. Anderson should start in the middle while the likes of Darron Gibson should get a run out.

Michael Owen, Owen Hargreaves and Antonio Valencia all remain out with long-term injuries. Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Edwin van der Saar and Michael Carrick are all likely to be rested for this game. Chris Smalling and Johnny Evans should start in the middle of the defence.

The fact that Ferguson will be without a number of first choice players should not make a difference to the basic shape of the team. Manchester United should go in with a 4-4-2, which will allow the younger players in the side the space and freedom to show off their creativity.

However, there will still be enough experience in the team to make sure that a result can be achieved. The last thing the club will want is for the match to go into extra-time, which would increase the fatigue on key players. The likes of Darren Fletcher should have enough quality to make sure there is a solid supply line to the attack of the team.

Park Ji-Sung will also have a big role to play in the side as he is likely to start down one of the flanks. Park will be crucial in supply width while doubling back to help out the full-backs.

Manchester United have a fairly solid record playing at West Ham. They won 4-0 in the Premier League last season at Upton Park and 1-0 in the season before that. Ferguson’s side are the heavy favourites to win this contest at a best price of 5/6, which is just below evens.