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Birmingham City entertain Manchester United for the third time at St Andrews
since they were promoted to the Premier League. The blues have yet to take a
point off Alex Ferguson's team in four meetings, a fact that is not lost on
manager Steve Bruce.
 "I still see United as the prime test to take something from."
"It is ironic that, while I have managed to take points off the likes of
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Newcastle, the one team I haven't done it
against is United."
"I would love to complete the set."
But to complete the set the blues will have to beat a team that has lost just
once this season, in an away tie against Chelsea, and are unbeaten in ten games
in all competitions since their 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge. With an almost
fully fit squad to pick from United will arrive at St Andrews full of
confidence. Louis Saha, Wes Brown and Paul Scholes are all set to return to the
squad after injury and with Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Ruud Van Nistelooy
all fully fit again the blues defence will be in for a stern test.
Blues hope to have Emile Heskey, Stephen Clemence and Muzzy Izzet back after
slight injuries but Steve Bruce will definately be without Stan Lazaridis, and
strikers Clinton Morrison and Mikael Forssell. That leaves the Birmingham
manager with just two fit strikers in Dwight Yorke and Emile Heskey. Andrew
Barrowman and Dean Curtis could push for a place on the bench if Bruce decides
to look to the youth setup for extra fire power. If Muzzy Izzet and Stephen
Clemence aren't passed fit expect to see Darren Anderton or Olivier Tebilly on
the bench.
It is expected that the Blues will play a similar formation to the draw
against Newcastle, when David Dunn played as a second striker just off Emile Heskey. But with Dwight Yorkes goal against the Magpies he will be pushing for a
starting place against his former employees.
Expected line ups:
Blues:
Taylor, Melchiot, Cunningham, Upson, Clapham, Johnson, Savage, Clemence,
Gronkjaer, Dunn, Yorke.
Man U:
Carroll, G. Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Heinze, Ronaldo, Keane, Scholes,
Giggs, Rooney, Van Horseface.
Interesting Stats:
- Dwight Yorke, Steve Bruce and Robbie Savage all face their former club.
- Blues have never beaten Man Utd in the Premier League.
- Blues have not beaten Man Utd at home since 1978.
- If results go against the blues the lowest they can fall after this game
is bottom.
Latest Odds:
|
Blues to win - 4/1 |
Draw - 12/5 |
Man Utd to win - 7/10 |
|
Correct Score |
|
1-0 - 9/1
2-0 - 22/1
2-1 - 14/1
3-0 - 66/1
3-1 - 40/1 |
0-0 - 15/2
1-1 - 11/2
2-2 - 14/1 |
1-0 - 6/1
2-0 - 7/1
2-1 - 7/1
3-0 - 12/1
3-1 - 12/1 |
|
First Goalscorer |
|
Heskey - 7/1
Yorke - 15/2
Dunn - 11/1
Savage - 16/1
Gronkjaer - 18/1
Upson - 40/1 |
No Scorer - 15/2 |
Van Nistelrooy - 5/2
Rooney - 9/2
Scholes - 9/1
Giggs - 10/1
Ronaldo - 11/1
Ferdinand - 33/1 |
BNO Top Tip:
If Blues are to win the game it will be tight. So a 2-1 score-line is not
out of the question and at 14/1 is a decent price. As for a goal scorer David
Dunn at 11/1 looks the best value out of the blues scorers. Combine the two
bets and have:
Blues to win 2-1 and David Dunn
to score the 1st goal - 80/1 (Odds taken from Sportingodds.Com) |
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