Birmingham City v Manchester United Premier League preview

7 January 2010 by Barrie | Football Betting Expert

Birmingham City can put another dent in Manchester United’s title challenge this weekend by extending their own 11 game unbeaten run.

Birmingham City

A goalless draw here with Chelsea on boxing day seemed to help Manchester United out in the title race, as they closed to within 2 points of the leaders. But now Birmingham stand in the way of Manchester United as they look to keep in touch with Chelsea. The Blues only lost 1-0 to Manchester United on the opening day of the season, with Christian Benitez being denied late on with a great save from Ben Foster. Now Birmingham have got to grips with the Premier League, unbeaten in 11, winning 7 of those. They present a big problem for Manchester United with their excellent defending of late. They will be prepared for the physical game of Wayne Rooney, but can they keep out the in-form striker for 90 minutes? A scrambled Ryan Nelsen goal from close range is the only goal the home side have conceded here in their last 5 matches. They remain unprolific in front of goal; only scoring more than 1 goal three times this season! One constant in Manchester United’s 7 defeats in all competitions this season has been keeping them at bay. 0 goals in those 7 defeats. Birmingham will be looking for another clean sheet, and if it remains that way in the second half, confidence should grow on them going for the victory.

Form
WWDDW

Injuries/Suspensions
Lee Carsley
Stuart Parnaby
Garry O’Connor
Teemu Tainio
Martin Taylor
David Murphy

Manchester United

A disastrous 1-0 defeat at home to rivals Leeds United in the FA Cup left the team, manager and supporters embarrassed. The postponement of their Carling Cup semi final with Manchester City midweek may have come as a blessing, but Sir Alex Ferguson would have got under the skin of his players and get them in the mood to play. It was a terrible performance last weekend and the side should be looking to create more opportunities, albeit against a stern defence this weekend. The future of Nemanja Vidic has been thrown into doubt after his absence from their FA Cup game. They cannot afford for a player like him to go AWOL, especially with the defensive problems they’ve had this season. Wes Brown was unable to defend adequately and was involved in the goal that knocked them out of the Cup. Dimitar Berbatov continues to get the nod ahead of Michael Owen. The Bulgarian does have 6 goals from his 17 appearances this season, but is nowhere near the form he produced at Tottenham for 2 seasons when he was involved in both scoring and creating goals. Just 2 assists so far this season. Several wasted opportunities and selfish moments to add. Ferguson continues to play him and you have to think at some point the striker will turn into the player some expected him to be at Manchester United. Defensive injuries are easing, should Nemanja Vidic play. Ryan Giggs made a substitute appearance in the cup and should be ready to go. His experience should be needed against a solid Birmingham defence. United need to win this match and one scrappy goal could be enough, but that would rely on both Wes Brown and Tomasz Kuszack going error free for 90 minutes.

Form
LWLWW

Injuries/Suspensions
Edwin van der Sar
John O’Shea
Rio Ferdinand
Owen Hargreaves

Manchester United should not be odds on in this match, let-alone closer to halves. Birmingham are unbeaten in 11 having held Chelsea here recently. Manchester United have been inconsistent and will be fancied by some lay-betters this weekend.

Best bet: Under 2.5 goals 4/5