Manchester United Chasing Another Win

Manchester United will travel to Wolves looking to keep the five point gap from Arsenal in tact.

United were impressive during the 3-1 mid-week win over Aston Villa and most importantly Wayne Rooney bagged a brace and looked as though he’d never been out of form. However, Sir Alex Ferguson will need to guard against complacency as Wolves have played well against many of the big teams this season.

Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra took their regular places in the United defence against Villa and performed well although looking a little rusty at times. This could be the perfect game for Rafael to come back into the side after John O’Shea filled in while the Brazilian continued his recovery from mild concussion.

There is bad news in the middle of the team after Darren Fletcher was forced off just after the half an hour mark against Aston Villa with an injury. Paul Scholes or Anderson are likely to replace Fletcher in the team for the trip to Wolves. Scholes may get the nod as he compliments the more defensive side of Michael Carrick’s game well.

Ferguson has no need to change things up front, which means more frustrating time on the subs bench for Javier Hernandez. Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov are both in good goalscoring form and have formed a lethal partnership in attack, which would be silly to break up at this stage in the season.

Rooney’s goals at Old Trafford were his first in the league at home, from open play, this season. His first goal was a superb volley that no goalkeeper in the world would have stopped and it showed that his touch is as good as ever. It wouldn’t be a surprise at all if Rooney caused chaos among the Wolves defence for this game.

The only way United know how to get wins against weaker teams on the road is to be ruthless from the start. This means Ferguson is likely to deploy the 4-4-2 he has used for most of the season. Nani and one from Ryan Giggs and Park Ji-Sung will be the players supplying the ammunition in for the strikers to attack.

There is no brand news on the long-term injuries the club has. Antonio Valencia is still some way off a return to the first team as is Owen Hargreaves. Fletcher will be assessed over the next few days but fortunately the club has plenty of cover in the central midfield position of the team.