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2010-10-26 - Manchester United vs Wolverhampton Wander
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : English Carling Cup
Tuesday 26 October 2010 - Kickoff 8pm
This game is live on TV
Manchester United
Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United had a tough week with all the Wayne Rooney dominated headlines in the press, and the manager began to fear the worst for the season when Stoke City seemed to have scored a goal that would get a share of the points on Sunday. However, Summer signing Javier Hernandez scored his 2nd of the match to help United to a 1-2 win.
That result moved United up to 3rd in the table after the conclusion of all of the weekend games but they remain 5 points behind Chelsea. They increased their run of unbeaten games to 19 in all competitions as they look to take the field in the Carling Cup, a trophy United have won twice in succession. The Red Devils are unbeaten in their last 9 at Old Trafford, winning 7 of them.
It is clear that this remains the lowest of priorities for United this season and Sir Alex Ferguson will continue picking a changed side until at least the latter stages. Michael Owen is expected to return to lead the line, and there could be starts for the likes of Park, Neville, Smalling, Gibson and Oberton.
Possible Manchester United Line Up: Kuszczak, Neville, Fabio, Smalling, Brown, Gibson, Carrick, Park, Oberton, Macheda and Owen (4-4-2)
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Mick McCarthy is only interested in one thing this season, and that is ensuring his side are still a Premier League club in May 2011. They currently find themselves in 19th place in the Premier League but will be aware that there is already a slight gap of 3 points to the teams in the safety zone. This is not a time to put pressure on yourselves by having to play catch up.
Wolves have played 11 games in all competitions this season and have won only 3 games, 2 of those coming in this competition against teams from the lower leagues. Since progressing through to this round, the team has lost 3 of 4 Premier League games, earning a draw in the other, and they have now won just 1 of their last 8 games in all competitions.
Stephen Hunt could be given an additional run out here after making his debut for his new side at the weekend off the bench against Chelsea. The likes of Wayne Hennessey and Nenad Milijas will be given an opportunity too.
Possible Wolverhampton Wanderers Line Up: Hennessey, Stearman, Elokobi, Mouyokolo, Berra, Halford, Foley, Hunt, Milijas, Ebanks-Blake and Bent (4-4-2)
Head to Head
This is the 2nd consecutive season that the teams have been drawn to face one another at Old Trafford in the Carling Cup. A much changed Manchester United side beat Wolves 1-0 last season courtesy of a Danny Welbeck goal and all after Fabio had been sent off.
That game last season was followed by a League game here in December when Mick McCarthy was heavily criticised for making 9 changes to his team days before they were due to play Burnley at home.
Prediction
Manchester United will want to continue with the momentum picked up from 2 wins in a week, but it is clear that they will make a number of changes to the side, possibly 10 from the game against Stoke just 2 days ago. There will still be a number of internationals in the team, but it can be hard to predict how they will play together on the night.
Wolverhampton Wanderers made a number of changes themselves in the opening 2 rounds of the competition this season and it is clearly not top of the agenda for Mick McCarthy. Last season they may have forced the game into extra time with a bit more composure in front of goal.
I cannot even begin contemplating taking Manchester United to win this game at the odds I have seen- with the number of changes expected by both sides, the home win looks far too short as far as I am concerned.
Interestingly, the teams have met 5 times in recent history, and 4 of those games were settled by 1 goal, including 2 of the 3 meetings from last season. Also, United made a number of changes in 2 previous home games this season, beating Bursaspor 1-0 and drawing with Rangers 0-0.
Wolves are also expected to make some changes so we could witness a close battle as both sides learn to play with teammates they may not have done previously. Taking all this into consideration, the Under 2.5 goal option looks big to me.
The Pick :
Manchester United 1-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
