Manchester United V Portsmouth

Saturday's teatime Premiership installment comes live from Old Trafford where two teams who have dominated the back pages of late come face to face. Manchester United, still recovering from the Roy Keane saga and the death of club idol George Best take on a Portsmouth side desperately short on confidence, points, goals, and at time of writing, a manager!It was widely expected that colourful Sheffield United boss Neil Warnock would replace Alain Perrin at the Pompey helm, but he?s decided to stay at Bramall Lane, and few could blame him given the fine form his Blades side have shown in the Championship this term.Warnock's knock back, means Milan Madaric could now turn to Rangers? boss Alex McLeish or even consider a shock move for ex-manager Harry Redknapp.Either way, it's highly unlikely that the South-coast outfit will have their new man in by Saturday's game, so the daunting task of stopping a resurgent Manchester United will go to caretaker boss Joe Jordan, who was of course in charge for the 2-0 defeat at home to Champions Chelsea last week.Unsurprisingly, the hosts are red-hot favourites to claim maximum points and on current form it's not hard to see why. Europe aside, Sir Alex's men have reacted superbly to the 4-1 defeat they suffered at Middlesbrough in late October, winning their last three Premiership fixtures to move back up to second place in the table.The 1-0 win over Chelsea last month provided them with a huge confidence boost, and since then they have begun to turn in the type of power-packed performances you?d expect from a team managed by Sir Alex Ferguson.Wins in the capital over Charlton and West Ham were achieved with real quality, while Wednesday's Carling Cup success in front of an emotional Old Trafford crowd could not have been any easier.I?m sure Sir Alex would have been delighted to see forgotten man Louis Saha notch in that game, and his return to full fitness further bolsters United's buzzing frontline. They may be struggling for goals in Europe, but Wayne Rooney and Ruud Van Nistelrooy have been in devastating form in recent weeks and the pair will be desperate to get stuck into Pompey's sluggish rearguard.Taking a closer look at Portsmouth's form and the argument to back Manchester United becomes even clearer. From the moment Pompey appointed Alain Perrin, many predicted a season of struggle for the men in blue and so it has proved.They currently languish third from bottom and have lost four of their last five games, with the 4-1 win away at a very poor Sunderland side providing Pompey fans with a rare ray of light.Not only are Portsmouth shipping goals at a worrying rate ? seven in their last three games, but going forward they look particularly toothless, a point proved when you consider that Matt Taylor, a left back by trade, is their joint top scorer with two goals.Lomano Lua Lua's return to fitness is a boost, but even his vast array of tricks are unlikely to extend the rejuvenated Rio Ferdinand and co too much.At a best price 1/4 (Bet Direct) United are only likely to appeal to accumulator fans, but for an interest in the game, try a couple of correct score punts, with 3-0 and 4-0 looking good at 15/2 and 12/1 respectively.I've already mentioned how sharp Rooney and Van Nistelrooy have looked of late, and with Portsmouth unlikely to prove much of a threat, expect the Red Devils to clinch a confidence boosting victory ahead of next Wednesday's must win encounter with Portuguese giants Benfica.