Goalscorer Preview - West Ham United v Manchester United: Federico Macheda

Federico Macheda will be up for the challenge of leading the Manchester United attack for the Carling Cup clash against West Ham United.

Macheda is not quite a household name among Manchester United fans just yet but he is getting better as Sir Alex Ferguson promised. Macheda is more of a powerful impact striker in the same mould as Wayne Rooney.

Macheda has scored a total of three goals this season, which is roughly the return expected from a fringe player at the very best. Macheda is a very passionate and strong forward who likes to hover on the edge of a defence as opposed to dropping off into the midfield.

The goal he scored against Aston Villa in the Premier League not too long ago proves he strikes the ball as cleanly as anyone else in the team. He has also broken into the Italy Under-21 side.

What makes Macheda so difficult to play against is his strength. He is similar to Rooney in the respect that he can bully defenders he is playing against. This makes them back off and creates a little space for the Italian to use whether he is turning on goal or looking to play the ball to someone else.

This is one of the few games that Macheda should feature heavily in as Ferguson will want to rest his bigger players. Macheda looks very good value at 13/8 to score at any point during the game and 11/2 to score the first goal of the game.

Macheda and his agent recently confirmed that he has no desire to be at any other club. This means he is fully focused on his Manchester United future and the only way he is going to get more games in the first team is to score goals on the rare occasions he is given a chance to play.