Bet 365 - Click here for £200 of Free Bets now Manchester United are set to take on Chelsea at
Stamford Bridge in what has become a very important Premier League fixture in recent seasons,
largely thanks to the self-indulgence of Roman Abramovich. The champions are currently three points
behind Manchester City, and Ferguson will want to keep the pressure on the league leaders.
News that Jose Mourinho could be about to de-camp to yet another club will no doubt result in
managers at some of Europe's top clubs looking over their shoulders. It was ever thus. Mourinho is
of course hugely successful; his wins to games ratio at 69% is astonishing, that's an incredible
ll% higher than Ferguson's - though, it's true the United manager has been around for a lot longer.
Manchester United were knocked out of the FA Cup at Anfield on Saturday by a less than impressive
Liverpool team. United enjoyed the lions share of possession for long periods of a game that they
by and large controlled, but the champions were once again guilty of making costly defensive errors
and at the other end they were toothless up front.
The future of Dimitar Berbatov continues to be the subject of intense media speculation. The £30m
striker is out of contract next summer and is therefore free to talk to would be suitors. The
former Spurs striker has been linked to CSKA Moscow, Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen. Last
month, Ferguson hinted that he was ready to activate a clause in the Bulgarian's contract; one that
would
United went level with Manchester City at the top of the Barclays Premier League thanks to
Saturday's three-nil win over struggling Bolton. In truth, for the second home league game in a
row, despite the winning margin, United made hard work of it. While the win over Bolton keeps the
pressure on leaders City, it was not the performance of champions.
Manchester United went into Sunday's third round FA Cup tie with neighbours City on the back of two
league defeats on the spin. It was therefore not surprising that there wasn't a great deal of
shared optimism among United fans ahead of the derby. The prospect of a third defeat in the space
of a week seemed like a distinct possibility.
Bet 365 - Click here for £200 of Free Bets now In this festive update, we look forward to the
New Year and assess the champions recent improvement on the pitch as well as United's prospects of
retaining the title. United have been in fine festive form scoring 10 goals without reply. Fulham
were the first to be dispatched at Craven Cottage, where the champions ran out comfortable five-nil
United played more like the United we know and love at Loftus Road on Sunday, the champions ran out
2-0 winners and deservedly so. Wayne Rooney opened the scoring with an early headed goal from an
Atonio Valencia cross from the right. Michael Carrick sealed the victory with an all too rare solo
goal in the second-half following a 50 yard run at the Rangers defence.
At the time of posting, Manchester United are currently five points behind leaders Manchester City
in the Premier League. The gap between first and second placed club isn't unbridgeable, but City
have the added advantage of a huge goal difference and truth be told, even at this relatively early
stage of the season, they have the look of champions about them.
Not for the first time this season, Manchester United pressed the self-destruct button in Europe
when losing 2-1 against Basel in Switzerland last night, a result which sees the champions dropping
into the Europa League. It is nothing short of an unmitigated disaster for Ferguson, his players
and the club.
Bet 365 - Click here for £200 of Free Bets now Manchester United haven't been the same team since
the derby. The early season swagger, attacking play and flair that saw the champions serge to the
summit of the Premier League seems like a distant memory. City currently lead United by five
points, that and a massive goal difference.
Crystal Palace deservedly dumped Manchester United out of the Carling Cup at Old Trafford last
night. The performance and the result was hugely disappointing from a Red perspective and for the
second time in recent weeks Ferguson was left apologising to the fans. The United manager described
last month's 6-1 derby thrashing as a "wake-up call".
Manchester United are in action on Wednesday night at Selhurst Park in the quarter finals of the
Carling Cup, where they will face Crystal Palace. No doubting there will be many references to the
infamous Cantona incident in 1995, following 'King Eric's' brand of terrace retribution. United
have been so dull of late, we could do with a bit of off the field excitement.
Manchester United were in action at the Liberty Stadium yesterday and for the third league game on
the spin it finished up one-nil to the champions. Javier Hernandez grabbed another poachers goal
just ten minutes into the game with help from Ryan Giggs and a howler of a mistake by Angel Rangel,
who gifted United's midfield veteran possession on the edge of the Swansea penalty area.
Manchester United may well have won every game since that embarrassing 6-1 derby thrashing - but
the quality of the football has been very poor by the champions standards. One cannot help but feel
that Ferguson is reassessing United's tactics and formation in the wake of that comprehensive
defeat. United have played two league games since the derby, there was no wingers in the team that
started
