United finally travel to Bloomfield Road after this fixture was postponed in early December due to bad weather. As they say it is better to have points in the bag than games in hand and it is good to finally play one of the two fixtures we have missed.
United should be good value for a win tonight and it will be a huge step forward to open the gap at the top to 5 points. It is however very important to guard against complacency. The last thing we need at this point in time is a repeat of our trip to Turf Moor last season when we got turned over by Burnley.
The Seasiders have had a dream start to their season and are currently sitting very comfortably in 12th place. However, their impressive 2-1 win is the only win in a pretty miserable run of late which has seen them lose 5 of their last 6 games. A major advantage for United is that their talisman, Charlie Adam, appears to have had his head turned by interest from the scousers. Adam slapped in a transfer request this weekend which was rejected out of hand by Manager Ian Holloway.
Sir Alex Ferguson will be looking to see United push on and will see this as an ideal opportunity to get a win away from home, something which has proven pretty hard to come by this season.
Rio Ferdinand remains a doubt so Chris Smalling will be hoping to retain his place at the back alongside Vidic. Fergie’s only fresh injury worry is Michael Carrick who limped off after 25 minutes of the 5-0 defeat of Birmingham on Saturday. This could potentially open up the door for Paul Scholes to make his return to first team action after lining out for the reserves last week.
Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov’s impressive partnership will in all likelihood be retained up front meaning Fergie will have to pick between Owen and Chicharito for a place on the bench. Rafael is back from suspension leaving Fergie with a decision to make at right back after John O’Shea’s impressive performance on Saturday. United should have enough to win this one and kick on in the quest for number 19.
Prediction: Blackpool 1-3 Man United
Submitted by Glory Glory Man Utd
