I'm finding it a bit difficult to make up my mind for this game. I can see Arsenal scoring three goals and I can also imagine us conceding three or four. Goes without saying that anything in between also seems quite possible. We could get a tight win, an exciting draw, or another in the string of bad losses against United.

Here's some statistics showing the minutes per goal scored by some of the top strikers in our league in all competitions for their club.

Dimitar Berbatov (United)
Minutes: 1348
Goals: 12
Minutes per goal: 112.3

Javier Hernandez (United)
Minutes: 934
Goals: 7
Minutes per goal: 133.

Following last weekends demolition of Blackburn Rovers, one man came away with a ton of praise and rightfully so. Dimitar Berbatov scored five goals, or a glut of goals if you prefer, but was it the beginning of a new dawn for the Bulgarian striker or will he flatter to deceive as has been the case so far in his Old Trafford career.

There are some who would crawl over shards of glass dipped in alcohol and salt for any and all individual awards they can accumulate. Dimitar Berbatov is no such man.

In fact, he doesn't want the good sports journalists of Bulgaria to vote for him at all anymore. Now is the time to think of the children, he says.

Two award ceremonies, two players, two very different reactions...

Mario Balotelli after being presented with the Golden Boy trophy, organised by the Turin newspaper Tuttosport and voted for by European journalists to honour the most talented footballer under the age of 21.

23rd December – There are so many stories published about Manchester United that it's impossible to keep up with all of them. Truly Reds does it's best to bring you the latest news but only so much...
Continue to the full story

Sir Alex Ferguson took the decision to drop Dimitar Berbatov for Wayne Rooney when Manchester United played Arsenal. Rooney has scored just two goals in all competitions since March, both from the penalty spot, whilst Dimitar Berbatov is the Premier League's top scorer.

Ferguson has conceded that sometimes he does have doubts about his bold decisions but has to go with his feelings over what will get the team a win.

Don't forget RoM videos for all the latest United related clips.

"VIDEO: Berbatov's Goal Against Birmingham" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia.

1. Dimitar Berbatov has now scored 14 league goals in 15 games, which is 2 more than last season and just 1 short of his best Premiership tally in 07-08 with Spurs. He looks happy, he's got the confidence to have a go himself instead of always trying to find a better option and his languid style isn't even getting commented on any more.

Birmingham City 1-1 Manchester United: Observations

"We're still in a good position when you look at the bigger picture. We haven't lost, we're in good form we played well at times tonight, controlling the game and so we go into the next game looking to keep the momentum up.

Alan Smith was much loved by our fans because of the effort he put in to every game. His tackles would come flying in, he would track down any ball and he was rewarded with his name being sung week after week.

However, he was supposed to be a striker and the best he could manage was 6 goals in 31 games (9 goals in 41 games in all competitions).

By AVI CREDITOR

Kudos to you if you stuck with Dimitar Berbatov through his slump.

After going nine matches without scoring a goal, Berbatov put up an insane five-spot against Blackburn last weekend, tallying 25 fantasy points in the process (50 if he was somehow your captain).

Sir Alex Ferguson has praised the Premiership's highest scorer, Dimitar Berbatov, for the five goals he scored against Blackburn. However, the manager reckons the Bulgarian has enjoyed better performances, but understands it is by the goals that he scores that he will be judged.

"It was his best goalscoring performance," said Ferguson.

It felt like forever waiting to watch United play again. After that incredible display against Blackburn followed up by the dismal showing against West Ham, I for one was eager to see which team would show up next. Unfortunately, our game over the weekend got cancelled due to the weather. So, our players were well rested and probably itching to get out there.

Occasionally a player will rely upon another player so much that they're less than half the player they could be without said player who compliments them so well. If you're confused by that word amalgam, don't be. Just make sure you watch Manchester United's next match on Monday at home against Arsenal and pay special attention to the brew that has become United's forward two.

The Champions League group stages have been extremely exciting this season, and as the knockout stages draw nearer, we're beginning to see the sides which will take part in the latter stages of the competition. Right now, the sides which have qualified are: Tottenham Hotspur, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Schalke 04, Lyon, Manchester United, Valencia, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Real Madrid, and AC Milan.

The Champions League group stages have been extremely exciting this season, and as the knockout stages draw nearer, we're beginning to see the sides which will take part in the latter stages of the competition. Right now, the sides which have qualified are: Tottenham Hotspur, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Schalke 04, Lyon, Manchester United, Valencia, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Real Madrid, and AC Milan.

Manchester United played Valencia to a draw, which secured both clubs advancement into the next round of the competition; with United going through as group leaders and avoiding a second-round clash with Real Madrid, Barcelona, or Chelsea because they will all finish as group leaders. The round of 16 draw will be held December 17th.

Dimitar Berbatov reckons that the people who wrote United off at the beginning of the season, and those that continue to do so, should feel embarrassed.

"With the goals we score it's stupid to say that Manchester United is not a contender for the league," he said. "It's a statement that if someone is going to make then they should feel embarrassed because it's Manchester United, and you have the best players in the world playing there.

Man Utd Youth Policy

I have taken at look at the approximate ages of players in five years time. The aim is to look at who we have coming through that can replace these players.

Van Der Sar 45, Rafael 25, Rio Ferdinand 37, Vidic 34, Evra 34, Valencia 30, Nani 29, Anderson 27, Fletcher 31, Rooney 30,
Berbatov 34.

Its is a rivalry that has simmered over in recent years comes right back to boiling point this evening at Old Trafford as Manchester United take on Arsenal in the Premier League.

A battle that would have been first against second is now first versus third after Manchester's other team decided to move themselves joint top alongside Arsenal.

Manchester United will be defending their unbeaten record against the league leaders, in a match that could see United move to the top of the table with a game in hand.

The Gunners have a number of weapons in their Arsenal, but none more dangerous than Samir Nasri at the moment. Nasri has led Arsenal to the top of the table, scoring key goals and giving the Gunners some hope "after Cesc" if the Spaniard does decide to head back to his youth club.

Lineups are in:

Manchester United: Starters: van der Sar, Rafael, Ferdinand, Evra, Carrick, Anderson, Fletcher, Nani, Park, Rooney Bench: Kuszczak, Hernandez, Berbatov, Brown, Smalling, Obertan, Giggs

Arsenal: Starters: Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci, Clichy, Song, Wilshere, Nasri, Rosicky, Arshavin, Chamakh Bench: Fabianski, Djourou, Fabregas, Walcott, RvP, Denilson, Bendtner

Our young Pole Szczney is officially going to be making his Premier League debut against Manchester United.

Lineups are in:
Manchester United: Starters: van der Sar, Rafael, Ferdinand, Evra, Carrick, Anderson, Fletcher, Nani, Park, Rooney
Bench: Kuszczak, Hernandez, Berbatov, Brown, Smalling, Obertan, Giggs

Arsenal: Starters: Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci, Clichy, Song, Wilshere, Nasri, Rosicky, Arshavin, Chamakh
Bench: Fabianski, Djourou, Fabregas, Walcott, RvP, Denilson, Bendtner

It's finally hitting me that we're still undefeated. Granted, Chelsea next week will be our biggest test yet, but we have played Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs and City and compiled a nice 3 wins and 1 draw against that lot. Not too shabby I would say even if those 3 wins have come at OT.

We reverted to a 5 man midfield to counter theirs with Berba once again being the casualty for this tactical formation.

1. Park Ji-Sung does it again. It doesn't matter how much people bitch and moan about him, he still keeps coming up with the goods. 4 goals in the last 6 league games is a record any striker would be proud of, let alone a battling midfield. In the last five minutes he was running with all the energy he did in the first five minutes.

In rewatching the Arsenal/United game, a couple more things stood out:

1. Rafael is becoming quite an accomplished defender. Gone is the lunging in and leaving his feet early for tackles. He uses his body better than he's done before and tactically, he doesn't get caught out of position as often.

Incomplete of course, but a few things we still need to check off...:

For you Sunil....

For Sunil Gulati:

The Sepp Blatter Punching Bag....For someone who couldn't punch the United States ticket to hosting the World Cup 2022. We also get Gulati one of those disappearing ink pens for when he has to resign Bob Bradley in the Winter of 2014 because Jurgen Klinsmann takes the Chivas coaching gig but then subsequently gets fired and becomes available.

Harry Redknapp is renowned for making shrewd transfers during the January window but do Tottenham need any new purchases with such a large fist team squad asks Ger McCarthy.

Tottenham Hotspur Chairman, Daniel Levy, has moved to reassure Spurs fans that Gareth Bale will not be sold amid recent transfer speculation and that should appease Tottenham fans expecting few in any new signings in the January transfer window.

After another fantastic display against Arsenal on Monday evening it seems Anderson could finally start producing the displays we expect of a player who was signed to eventually take Paul Scholes' place in the team.

The Brazilian has been rewarded with a new 4 and a half year deal signed on Wednesday and puts to rest the recent speculation that his future lies in Greece or in Portugal.

Wayne Rooney has revealed that he has been working hard with Dimitar Berbatov on the training ground to improve their partnership.

"Dimitar Berbatov and I have been working on the training ground to work closer, play more one-twos and play a bit quicker," said Rooney. "It worked really well in the Blackburn game, when we won 7-1, but we only had one up front against Arsenal, so you have to alter the way you play sometimes.

As rivalries go, the friction with Chelsea is a fairly recent addition to Manchester United's list, but that hasn't made it any less compelling, as there have been a number of high profile and engrossing encounters between the two sides in the recent past.

So as we play the Blues tomorrow, sit back, relax and enjoy some classic moments of triumph over Chelsea.

With the transfer window opening immanently speculation is already mounting on who will be on the move in January. As teams look to give their squads that bit extra in the push for trophies, promotion or the battle against relegation, January is always a busy time. Check out the players below who could have a new home post Christmas.

Dimitar Berbatov has been voted Bulgarian Footballer of the Year for the 7th time (2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010) but has asked for people to stop voting for him so one of the younger players can win the award.

"I prefer to see some of the younger lads winning the award. Please, don't vote for me anymore.

Miserable Bulgar Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov used his acceptance speech at yesterday's Bulgarian Footballer of the Year to issue a plea that he doesn't win the award next year. Berba was picking up the award for the seventh time and wanted the voting panel of journalists to be 100 per cent clear: he doesn't [.

The recent snowfall makes corner kicks a bit difficult. It's nothing compared to this corner though.

Here's the links:

• Balotelli's hat [Beat The First Man]
• Fantasy Tips [Roto Experts]
• Stu Holden the best? [The Sports Blog]
• Donovan close to deal [Metro]
• Berbatov's seventh award [Dirty Tackle]
• EPL gossip [Sinnacle]
• 50 best photos of 2010 [Who Ate All The Pies]
• Tim Howard's epic performance [Liverpool Echo]

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and let me know if you'd like to suggest an article, video or photo for inclusion on the Premier League Links Of The Day.

Citeh bad boy is Golden Boy It's been a week for awkward award acceptances. Following Dimitar Berbatov's don't vote for me again plea, Mario Balotelli has managed to make an idiot of himself as he was awarded the Golden Boy award for the best Under-21 player in Europe by Italian newspaper Tuttosport.

With the January transfer window only days away from opening, Dimitar Berbatov has been linked with a move to clubs such as Bayern Munich, Fenerbahce and Juventus but the striker has said that he...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more!

1. Dimitar Berbatov 7
2. Rio Ferdinand 6.9
2. Nemanja Vidic 6.9
2. Paul Scholes 6.9
5. Patrice Evra 6.7
6. Nani 6.6
6. Anderson 6.6
8. Rafael da Silva 6.4
9. Edwin Van der Sar 6.3
9. Michael Carrick 6.3
9. Wayne Rooney 6.

It may have been nearly two weeks in coming but Manchester United finally get their Premier league campaign back underway against Sunderland after last weekend's postponement.

The rest may have done United's stars some good with a very busy schedule in the offing, but first Steve Bruce's men have to be dispatched at Old Trafford and given their away record this year – only one win – it might proved to be a relatively easy task.