Can Utd win it?

By Chris,
January 7 2009

Sir Alex Ferguson is expected to rest some of his ‘big guns’ as Manchester United look to avoid a League Cup upset at Pride Park and put themselves on course for another trip to Wembley. The Red Devils have won the competition, sponsored by Carling, twice before and Fergie will be desperate for a positive result as he bids to achieve an unthinkable quintuple of major trophies.

Fergie has already confirmed that he'll test his squad's strength in depth during a hectic January month.

The United boss is expected to rest the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Edwin van der Sar with Sunday's Premier League showdown against Chelsea on the horizon.

Tomasz Kuszczak will start between the sticks, whilst Carlos Tevez will feature at some point. Intense speculation continues about the Argentinean's future - but the frontman has an ideal opportunity to capture the headlines for footballing reasons on Wednesday night.

Nani, Anderson and Darren Fletcher are three more senior names who may get a chance to stake a claim - whilst Darron Gibson and Danny Welbeck both hit the net at Southampton and are expected to be involved.

United, however, must not get into old habits and treat this game with complacency. The Rams are currently struggling at the wrong end of the Championship table, sitting only five points above the drop-zone.

However, the club are under-achieving and have a squad capable of challenging for at least a play-off place. The players and fans will be buzzing after the announcement that Nigel Clough has been appointed as the club's new boss - though he won't be in charge for this first-leg clash.

It's building up to be a cracking tie and hopefully United's fringe players can put us in a strong position ahead of the second-leg in thirteen days time.