Manchester United could leapfrog rivals City and go top of the Premier League if they beat basement boys Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils are in sparkling form at the moment and go into the game off the back of two successive 5-0 wins. This is the time of year that Sir Alex Ferguson’s side usually picks up momentum as they make their charge towards top-flight glory. United have been imperious since their 6-1 drubbing at the hands of City back in October winning eight of the subsequent nine games keeping seven clean sheets in the progress. Despite having 12 players out injured including captain Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, midfield enforcer Darren Fletcher and winger Ashley Young fringe players like Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov have stepped in to fill the breach with the Bulgarian striker helping himself to six of United’s 10 goals over the last two games. He scored five in this fixture last season and is sure to be hungry for goals again as the Ferguson sets himself up for another championship assault.
Blackburn boss Steve Kean has a very different agenda as he prepares to take his side to Old Trafford knowing a defeat could cast them further adrift at the bottom. Rovers will go into the game with renewed optimism after holding Liverpool on Boxing Day gaining a vital point in their survival bid. However I doubt Kean and his players will believe they can beat United on their own patch with and last season’s 7-1 thrashing likely to be fresh in their minds. Goalkeeper Mark Bunn will be keen to avoid a similar score line this time round and should he perform like he did on Merseyside on Monday then he could be the difference for Blackburn. The club will hope their supporters once again provide positive noises from the stands after they got behind Kean and the players at Anfield as they attempt to engineer the biggest scalp of the season thus far.
Manchester United 2nd : 45 points
Team news: Sir Alex Ferguson is without 12 first team players but could have Phil Jones, Rio Ferdinand and Fabio back for the visit of Blackburn on New Years Eve.
Key Player: Wayne Rooney
Since rediscovering his knack of scoring goals at the start of December the England strikers performances have been near perfect. Rested for the game against Wigan on Boxing Day he’ll be firing on all cylinders as he looks to guide United to Premier League glory in 2012.
Blackburn Rovers 20th : 11 points
Team news: Blackburn have doubts over Paul Robinson, David Dunn and Junior Hoilett who all have knocks. Six other players are definitely out until the New Year.
Key Player: Mark Bunn
With Paul Robinson a doubt for the trip to Old Trafford it looks as if Bunn will start for the second successive game. His performance against Liverpool on Boxing Day was nothing short of spectacular with his reaction save from Andy Carroll’s header out of this world. Will be crucial to thwarting United’s goal hungry attack.
PREDICTION
United are unstoppable at the moment scoring 10 in their last two games and looking on course to regain the Premier League top spot. At the other end of the table Blackburn are staring into the abyss and defeat at Old Trafford will see them start 2012 rock bottom.
Scored: 4-0
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