Manchester United v Wigan Athletic Premier League preview

An inspired Wayne Rooney performance lead Manchester United to a 3-1 victory over Hull to gain 2 points on leaders Chelsea. Wigan were held at home by Blackburn as they remain narrowly above the relegation zone.

Manchester United

The return of Nemanja Vidic and Wes Brown improved the Manchester United defence, with Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher pushing forward into midfield to control the game for Manchester United. It will be interesting to see if both Vidic and Brown are fit enough to play this at a high level and for 90 minutes, or whether Sir Alex Ferguson will have to swap his defence around again. Going forward, eyes will be on Wayne Rooney again after his performance in their last game. Whether Ryan Giggs can play another game in quick succession remains to be seen, but Ferguson has Gabriel Obertan trying to break into the team who can replace him. Dimitar Berbatov was uninfluential against Hull until Rooney set him up for an easy 3rd. If he gets the nod ahead of Michael Owen again in this one I can see him scoring against this Wigan defence. They’re an aggressive bunch, so don’t be surprised to see United win free kicks around the box in this one. Both Giggs and Rooney are good at dispatching them, while Nemanja Vidic has a record of getting on the end of them.

Form
WLWLW

Injuries/Suspensions
Gary Neville
Edwin van der Sar
John O’Shea
Jonny Evans
Rio Ferdinand
Owen Hargreaves

Wigan Athletic

Hugo Rodallega scored his 7th goal of the season to rescue Wigan a point at home to Blackburn on Saturday. Him and Charles N’Zogbia are Wigan’s two best players going forward, while Jason Scotland has still yet to open his account for Wigan. Scotland could be a useful player for Wigan in this match to launch the ball up to for him to hold up. Ultimately I cannot see Wigan keeping up with Manchester United. Wayne Rooney will be their main focus, but they cannot afford to underestimate players attacking from midfield including former Wigan star Antonio Valencia. Wigan have picked up 2 points in their last 4 games, but haven’t kept a clean sheet in either of those games despite scoring in all 4. They face an impossible task of keep a clean sheet here.

Form
WLDLD

Injuries/Suspensions
Mohamed Diame

The odds are poor, so we can always keep our fingers crossed that Wigan take the lead as they did against Manchester United last season. Otherwise you’ll need a large backing to make some worthwhile profit from this match, or add it to an accumulator.

Best bet: Manchester United to win 1/4