United Looking to Bounce Back Against Bolton

Manchester United will be looking to get back to winning ways in the Premier League after a good result against Marseille.

The win over the French side has quickly erased the memories of two bad defeats in the Premier League that have let Arsenal catch up and have a sniff at winning the title. However, United are now preparing for a match they have traditionally done well in over the last few years.

The defensive pairing of Wes Brown and Chris Smalling did not look convincing against Marseille which leaves manager Sir Alex Ferguson with a little bit of a headache. Rio Ferdinand will not play in the game and Nemanja Vidic is also struggling to be fit with a calf injury.

Ferguson could opt to move the more experienced John O’Shea into the middle of the defence and choose to play either Brown or Fabio Da Silva down the right. Marseille managed to get through the United defence frequently which will be a worry for the boss.

The midfield should take care of itself for this match thanks to the amazing revival of Nani who played against Marseille when he was meant to be injured for another couple of weeks. Nani and Ryan Giggs either side of two from Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher and Paul Scholes, means a solid midfield.

Antonio Valencia could play instead of Ryan Giggs now he is back to full fitness. Valencia got a massive cheer when he came on against Marseille because the Champions League is the competition in which he suffered his horrific broken and dislocated ankle injury earlier in the season.

Javier Hernandez has done his chances of an extended run in the side a world of good following his brace in the Champions League match. Dimitar Berbatov did not look happy that he was sitting on the bench but there isn’t a lot the Bulgarian can do because Hernandez offers a great range of movement and a bigger work ethic.

Slowly but surely the list of injuries that Sir Alex Ferguson has to deal with is getting smaller and smaller. Michael Owen, Owen Hargreaves and Rio Ferdinand seem to be the only players who are ruled out entirely at this stage of the season. As soon as Ferguson has one of his main central defenders fit again, be under no doubt that he’ll go straight back into the side.

United are going to have to tighten up in the league because there are still important matches to be played including Arsenal away and Chelsea at home. There is the possibility that the club could lose both of these fixtures so the side has to be perfect in all other league games to give the club a chance of winning the Championship.