Goalscorer Preview - Manchester United v Birmingham City: Ryan Giggs

Ryan Giggs will be a good outside bet to score in the Premier League game between Manchester United and Birmingham City this weekend.

Giggs has been given an extended run of games in the side despite his now ripe old age of 37-years-old. A combination of injuries to other wide players and Park Ji-Sung being away at the Asian Cup has meant that Sir Alex Ferguson has had no other choice but to play the Welshman.

Giggs is the model professional and has been so for his whole career. He lacks the pace he had as a youngster, which has led to questions over whether he should move into the middle of the team. However, he uses all of his experience and skill to make up for his lack of pace on the left wing.

Giggs is also at a point in his career where he very rarely gives the ball away cheaply. He doesn’t go for over ambitious passes when a simple one will do and he knows he cannot give the ball away high up the pitch when he can’t sprint back and cover.

Another good reason to back Giggs to score against Birmingham is because he’s one of the best strikers of a dead ball in the whole United team. If there is a well positioned free kick just outside the Birmingham penalty area then Giggs may be the man ready to have a shot on goal.

Giggs has played over 800 games in all competitions for United and is fast approaching the club record. This means he has the ability to adapt to various situations and if there is a weakness in the Birmingham defence then he will zone in on it.

His positional play is as good as it has ever been, which means he is better than most players and ghosting into space. When the ball is out on the right of the United team, Giggs will slowly drift into the middle, looking for a pocket of space to exploit and score.