Date & Kick-Off: Saturday, March 19 – 15:00 (GMT)
It is no secret that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is facing up to a defensive crisis ahead of this weekend’s home clash with Bolton. The 69-year-old is also coming to terms, slowly but surely, with a five-match touchline ban which will begin with immediate effect, starting with Saturday’s game with the Trotters at Old Trafford.
Manchester United will be without defenders Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans, John O’Shea, Rafael and even captain Nemanja Vidic meaning a make-shift defence, one which could look a little something like this: RB Hargreaves CB Smalling CB Brown LB Evra, must contend with one of the Premier League’s more dynamic forward-lines at the weekend.
Kevin Davies is a handful for any defence, a player with vast amounts of top-flight experience who isn’t afraid to put himself about or stick his body in where it might get hurt.
Johan Elmander is enjoying his best ever return since completing his big-money move from Toulouse back in 2008, having scored 9 times in the league this season and is someone who from seemingly out of nowhere has found some confidence.
And then we have the raw pace, athleticism and powerful figure of Daniel Sturridge, who has had a big impact since joining Owen Coyle’s squad on-loan from Chelsea in January until the end of the season.
When you’re lacking numbers at the back, Bolton are one team you do not want to come up against, as each of their forwards offers you something different and unique to have to defend against. If it isn’t Davies getting in your face, it’s Sturridge causing you problems with his lightening quick pace or Elmander making those smart runs in from the right.
I haven’t been at all convinced by the Chris Smalling and Wes Brown centre-back partnership, and I’m not the only one. As individuals they have defended well, but they have no idea where or what the other is up to and without that natural link-up, problems are always going to arise. So who better to capitalise on such frailties than a combative Bolton side who can play some slick, quick, penetrating football at times.
The good news for United fans is that Wayne Rooney is fit although is still some way off his best form, while Javier Hernandez simply cannot stop scoring of late and should keep Dimitar Berbatov on the bench.
The Red Devils also safely saw off Marseille in midweek to book a last-eight meeting with Chelsea, but Sir Alex’s men were nowhere near convincing against the French champions, who are of a similar ilk to Bolton in that they are a physical, muscular outfit and L’OM sprung open the United defence on several occasions. Bolton could quite easily do the same should their wide-outlets find pockets of space, with Martin Petrov and South Korean Lee Chung-Yong key men to Bolton’s cause as these two can be a real handful on their day and need to ensure the service through to the forwards is regular and crisp.
Providing they aren’t overawed by their intimidating surroundings, and I have no reason to believe they well; in fact, I reckon they’ll thrive off the situation, well aware that United have several chinks in their armour. An even bigger positive is that nobody really expects them to take anything from the fixture, so the Trotters can play with an element of freedom in a match where they have nothing to lose but plenty to gain.
Of course, we mustn’t forget to enclose the small print, which is that Bolton have lost six of their last seven away matches in the league. So small stakes on the lay of United but I’m very confident that Bolton will enjoy some success in front of goal in a fixture where the hosts should naturally be good for at least one.
Betting Tip: Both Teams to Score @ 1.85 VictorChandler
Value Bets:
LAY Manchester United @ 1.42 Betfair
Bolton to Score 2 or More Goals @ 4.20 PaddyPower
Kevin Davies to Score @ 5.00 SkyBet
