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So here we are lads. It's that time of year again. Crunch time. The time of the year when dreams are made and hearts broken. When heros are born and worst moments of people's lives are created(JT's miss anyone?).
Just have a quick look at our up coming games and make a few predictions. Our run in looks like this.
Tommorrow
UEFA Champions League
19:45 Man Utd vs Arsenal
&
Tuesday 5th May
UEFA Champions League
19:45 Arsenal vs Man Utd
This will be a mammoth encounter by all means. I expect it to be one of the best spectacles of the season so far. Free-flowing attacking football with the neutrals(and hopefully us) the winners. The lose of RVP, Gallas and the fact that Arshavin is cup tied is a huge blow. We must not however forget the array of talent Arsenal have at their disposal. The Fabregas', the Adebayors, the Walcotts. It's frightening to think what these guys and many more in their squad can do.
With Fabregas playing a more advanced role this season we're going to have to first try and nullify him. Anderson in my opinion(and that of our chant) reckons he's our man. He's the type of guy who certainly isn't afraid to get stuck in and has the speed to cope with Fabregas too. To be honest, he is our biggest threat in my eyes. His passing is simply sublime. I think Vidic and Rio should cope with with adebayor as Vidic should easily match his strength and Rio will be there to mop up the loose ball and watch the turns and flick of him.
Like said in another thread. Walcott will also be quite a handful for Evra but i'm pretty confident that Patrice can deal with him. Evra is no slouch by any means and if he can keep close to Walcott and not let him get turned it will be half the battle.
All in all, Arsenal will probably be playing two holding midfielders out of Denilson, Song or Diaby. This is an are we'll have to bypass. Sure these guys might not be rated the best players in the world but they'll be quite a wall to break down. Especially when we'll be a midfielder down in marking Fabregas. This means Rooney will probably have to drop deeper and we'll hope that Berbatov stays forward.
I'm pretty confident we can win this tie over two legs. What we need to to get a positive result in the first leg. Hopefully a 2-0 would be perfect case scenario with them not scoring an away goal. If we can keep a clean sheet i'll be very confident we can get through. I think we'll score a few at the Emirates.
I think the tie will be something like 4-2, 4-3 in our favour. Here's hoping.
Saturday 2nd May
Barclays Premier League
12:45 Middlesbrough vs Man Utd
This to me is going to be alot tougher a task than we think. I would much prefer to be playing a side like West Ham here. This could be 'Boro's last shot of staying up. I expect the crowd to be really up for this and it's a bloody early kick off, something which hasn't suited us in the past. It gives us the minimal amount of rest after our European tie. 'Boro will be fighting for their lives and we'll have to show as much hunger as them.
Liverpool here have just a slighty easier task in this round of games and hopefully we can go 6 points clear and really turn the screw. They've Newcastle at Anfield which certainly is far from an easy game. They are running out of games and I expect that tie to be quite an entralling one.
'Boro's key men are simple Downing and Tuncay. Downing hasn't looked himself recently. In fact, he's looked very poor and really hasn't shown the leadership you need from your captain. Still though, I expect this will be a game he'll be fighting tooth and nail for every single ball. Whoever is right back is certainly going to have their hands full. Hopefully we'll be able to start Brown in this game as I feel he'll be best able to deal with the threat.
Tuncay without a shadow of a doubt is 'Boro's best player. He is a fanatstic player and has an immense fighting spirirt. He'll be a handful for Vida and Rio that's for sure. His passing is sublime and we all know he can certainly finish. The only question mark is-does he genuinely think 'Boro can stay up given the run in they have. There is question marks over his future with Chelsea supposedly sniffing around. Let's hope he doesn't turn up.
I'd grab you're hand off for a 1-0 win right now. I do however think it could be 2 or 3 nil to United. I think we're just too strong and hopefully will be going in on the back of a confident United performance in Europe.
Sunday 10th May
Barclays Premier League
13:30 Man Utd vs Man City
This is a big game excluding the circumstances. This is certainly one of the games we could drop points in but if we don't it could be the one that will win us the title. It all depends on what City turns up. They finally won away from home last week against Everton and Robinho looks like he's coming back into form. City would love them to be the ones to put a dent in our title hopes but are the players they have the sort you would want to be sending out to battle.
Liverpools task is a much easier game at Upton Park. West Ham don't really have much to play for and have really looked off the boil in recent weeks. Their strikeforce is fairly weak without Carlton Cole and this will be without doubt in my eyes a Liverpool victory.
City's dangermen are Robinho, Stephen Ireland and the immense Shay Given. Like I said before, it really depends what type of mood Robinho is in. His tempermental at the bets of times. Ireland has come through the ranks at City and he'll know exactly what it means to the City supporters to beat United. He'll be dangerous for sure. Shay Given then is a match winner on his day. He could make 8 or 9 brillant saves on his day and we will hopefully put a few past him early enough.
Their defence to be fair is very shaky. We will hopefully be able to exploit that and score a few. The fact it's at Old Trafford is a major bonus to us. Hopefully we'll have a good loud crowd and really get behind the team. I'm going 3-1 United here.
Wednesday 13th May
Barclays Premier League
20:00 Wigan vs Man Utd
I really hope that this is the game where we all but seal the title. It's a midweek kick off but hopefully we'll take quite a few fans to Wigan and really get behind the side(the away fans always do to be fair). It's not really that easy a game but I prefer it to a side fighting for their lives. Wigan are safe and don't really have much to play for at the moment.
Wigans great season has been built on a rock solid defence. They have been one of the best in the league and you can see Steve Bruce has done alot of work with them. Their only problem is they don't really have alot to show upfront and midfield excluding Valencia of course. Their key men are Bramble and Valencia.
Bramble seems to finally unshackling himself from the title of an extremely dodgy defender. He is however no longer the butt of many jokes and some people have even called for him to be included in the England squad. He's been as solid as a rock this season and could be a obstacle to us. Then there is Valencia, certainly one of the wingers in the league and is supposedly a target for us. we're are used to dealing with dangermen here and if we get to this hurdle unscathed I think we'll jump it with flying colours.
I'm going for a comfortable 3-0 but anything can happen in football.
Saturday 16th May
Barclays Premier League
12:45 Man Utd vs Arsenal
Liverpool's game will be West Brom. Not much to add, it's a certain three for them unfortunatley. WBA will probably be down by this stage anyway.:frown:
I'm hoping however we've the title wrapped up by this stage and i've focused on Arsenal earlier so i'm not going to go into too much detail here. One big change will be they'll have Arshavin here. Look at what he did too Liverpool. It would have anyone worried. I'm hoping it doesn't come down to us needling to win here though.
My prediction 2-2.
Sunday 24th May
Barclays Premier League
16:00 Hull vs Man Utd
Again, I hope we've the title won by this game. Though it's probably the only game in the run-in where we've an easier game than Liverpool. Tottenham and Robbie Keane for one will be out to make a point. Who knows it could be one of his goals that end up costing him a Premiership winners medal(wouldn't that be sweet?)
I'm hoping it doesn't come down to this but Hull will either hopefully be relegated or safe by this stage. If not it's a huge task. As it's in Hull I expect it to be a packed house. They'll be really behind their team in this one(maybe I should take back what I said about it being an easier task than Liverpool's:thumbsdownsmileyani) 4-3 at Old Trafford after all.
Hull's key players are Turner and Geovanni. Turner's been a revelation this season at Hull. He's brillant in the air and no slouch on the ground. He in my eyes is Hull's best player and seems to love the club. Technicially, there is no one at Hull who comes near Geovanni. He was a bargain buy by Phil Brown this year. Scored some huge goals but can really drift in and out of games if he isn't seeing much of the ball which i'm confident we can do.
I'm going to go with a 2-1 win here for us but I hope it won't have any bearing on the league this game. still though if it does lets hope we end the season on the right foot.
I could also examine both Chelsea are Barcelona but i'm never one for tempting fate so i'll leave it for awhile. The above games are ones that will really determine our season. We all want the Premiership this year. It's the one we crave. We want 18-18 with them not getting their hands on it for years. It's our year lads. It's starting to look more and more likely by the day.
Come On United
Just have a quick look at our up coming games and make a few predictions. Our run in looks like this.Tommorrow
UEFA Champions League
19:45 Man Utd vs Arsenal
&
Tuesday 5th May
UEFA Champions League
19:45 Arsenal vs Man Utd
This will be a mammoth encounter by all means. I expect it to be one of the best spectacles of the season so far. Free-flowing attacking football with the neutrals(and hopefully us) the winners. The lose of RVP, Gallas and the fact that Arshavin is cup tied is a huge blow. We must not however forget the array of talent Arsenal have at their disposal. The Fabregas', the Adebayors, the Walcotts. It's frightening to think what these guys and many more in their squad can do.
With Fabregas playing a more advanced role this season we're going to have to first try and nullify him. Anderson in my opinion(and that of our chant) reckons he's our man. He's the type of guy who certainly isn't afraid to get stuck in and has the speed to cope with Fabregas too. To be honest, he is our biggest threat in my eyes. His passing is simply sublime. I think Vidic and Rio should cope with with adebayor as Vidic should easily match his strength and Rio will be there to mop up the loose ball and watch the turns and flick of him.
Like said in another thread. Walcott will also be quite a handful for Evra but i'm pretty confident that Patrice can deal with him. Evra is no slouch by any means and if he can keep close to Walcott and not let him get turned it will be half the battle.
All in all, Arsenal will probably be playing two holding midfielders out of Denilson, Song or Diaby. This is an are we'll have to bypass. Sure these guys might not be rated the best players in the world but they'll be quite a wall to break down. Especially when we'll be a midfielder down in marking Fabregas. This means Rooney will probably have to drop deeper and we'll hope that Berbatov stays forward.
I'm pretty confident we can win this tie over two legs. What we need to to get a positive result in the first leg. Hopefully a 2-0 would be perfect case scenario with them not scoring an away goal. If we can keep a clean sheet i'll be very confident we can get through. I think we'll score a few at the Emirates.
I think the tie will be something like 4-2, 4-3 in our favour. Here's hoping.
Saturday 2nd May
Barclays Premier League
12:45 Middlesbrough vs Man Utd
This to me is going to be alot tougher a task than we think. I would much prefer to be playing a side like West Ham here. This could be 'Boro's last shot of staying up. I expect the crowd to be really up for this and it's a bloody early kick off, something which hasn't suited us in the past. It gives us the minimal amount of rest after our European tie. 'Boro will be fighting for their lives and we'll have to show as much hunger as them.
Liverpool here have just a slighty easier task in this round of games and hopefully we can go 6 points clear and really turn the screw. They've Newcastle at Anfield which certainly is far from an easy game. They are running out of games and I expect that tie to be quite an entralling one.
'Boro's key men are simple Downing and Tuncay. Downing hasn't looked himself recently. In fact, he's looked very poor and really hasn't shown the leadership you need from your captain. Still though, I expect this will be a game he'll be fighting tooth and nail for every single ball. Whoever is right back is certainly going to have their hands full. Hopefully we'll be able to start Brown in this game as I feel he'll be best able to deal with the threat.
Tuncay without a shadow of a doubt is 'Boro's best player. He is a fanatstic player and has an immense fighting spirirt. He'll be a handful for Vida and Rio that's for sure. His passing is sublime and we all know he can certainly finish. The only question mark is-does he genuinely think 'Boro can stay up given the run in they have. There is question marks over his future with Chelsea supposedly sniffing around. Let's hope he doesn't turn up.
I'd grab you're hand off for a 1-0 win right now. I do however think it could be 2 or 3 nil to United. I think we're just too strong and hopefully will be going in on the back of a confident United performance in Europe.
Sunday 10th May
Barclays Premier League
13:30 Man Utd vs Man City
This is a big game excluding the circumstances. This is certainly one of the games we could drop points in but if we don't it could be the one that will win us the title. It all depends on what City turns up. They finally won away from home last week against Everton and Robinho looks like he's coming back into form. City would love them to be the ones to put a dent in our title hopes but are the players they have the sort you would want to be sending out to battle.
Liverpools task is a much easier game at Upton Park. West Ham don't really have much to play for and have really looked off the boil in recent weeks. Their strikeforce is fairly weak without Carlton Cole and this will be without doubt in my eyes a Liverpool victory.
City's dangermen are Robinho, Stephen Ireland and the immense Shay Given. Like I said before, it really depends what type of mood Robinho is in. His tempermental at the bets of times. Ireland has come through the ranks at City and he'll know exactly what it means to the City supporters to beat United. He'll be dangerous for sure. Shay Given then is a match winner on his day. He could make 8 or 9 brillant saves on his day and we will hopefully put a few past him early enough.
Their defence to be fair is very shaky. We will hopefully be able to exploit that and score a few. The fact it's at Old Trafford is a major bonus to us. Hopefully we'll have a good loud crowd and really get behind the team. I'm going 3-1 United here.
Wednesday 13th May
Barclays Premier League
20:00 Wigan vs Man Utd
I really hope that this is the game where we all but seal the title. It's a midweek kick off but hopefully we'll take quite a few fans to Wigan and really get behind the side(the away fans always do to be fair). It's not really that easy a game but I prefer it to a side fighting for their lives. Wigan are safe and don't really have much to play for at the moment.
Wigans great season has been built on a rock solid defence. They have been one of the best in the league and you can see Steve Bruce has done alot of work with them. Their only problem is they don't really have alot to show upfront and midfield excluding Valencia of course. Their key men are Bramble and Valencia.
Bramble seems to finally unshackling himself from the title of an extremely dodgy defender. He is however no longer the butt of many jokes and some people have even called for him to be included in the England squad. He's been as solid as a rock this season and could be a obstacle to us. Then there is Valencia, certainly one of the wingers in the league and is supposedly a target for us. we're are used to dealing with dangermen here and if we get to this hurdle unscathed I think we'll jump it with flying colours.
I'm going for a comfortable 3-0 but anything can happen in football.
Saturday 16th May
Barclays Premier League
12:45 Man Utd vs Arsenal
Liverpool's game will be West Brom. Not much to add, it's a certain three for them unfortunatley. WBA will probably be down by this stage anyway.:frown:
I'm hoping however we've the title wrapped up by this stage and i've focused on Arsenal earlier so i'm not going to go into too much detail here. One big change will be they'll have Arshavin here. Look at what he did too Liverpool. It would have anyone worried. I'm hoping it doesn't come down to us needling to win here though.
My prediction 2-2.
Sunday 24th May
Barclays Premier League
16:00 Hull vs Man Utd
Again, I hope we've the title won by this game. Though it's probably the only game in the run-in where we've an easier game than Liverpool. Tottenham and Robbie Keane for one will be out to make a point. Who knows it could be one of his goals that end up costing him a Premiership winners medal(wouldn't that be sweet?)
I'm hoping it doesn't come down to this but Hull will either hopefully be relegated or safe by this stage. If not it's a huge task. As it's in Hull I expect it to be a packed house. They'll be really behind their team in this one(maybe I should take back what I said about it being an easier task than Liverpool's:thumbsdownsmileyani) 4-3 at Old Trafford after all.
Hull's key players are Turner and Geovanni. Turner's been a revelation this season at Hull. He's brillant in the air and no slouch on the ground. He in my eyes is Hull's best player and seems to love the club. Technicially, there is no one at Hull who comes near Geovanni. He was a bargain buy by Phil Brown this year. Scored some huge goals but can really drift in and out of games if he isn't seeing much of the ball which i'm confident we can do.
I'm going to go with a 2-1 win here for us but I hope it won't have any bearing on the league this game. still though if it does lets hope we end the season on the right foot.
I could also examine both Chelsea are Barcelona but i'm never one for tempting fate so i'll leave it for awhile. The above games are ones that will really determine our season. We all want the Premiership this year. It's the one we crave. We want 18-18 with them not getting their hands on it for years. It's our year lads. It's starting to look more and more likely by the day.
Come On United
