Aston Villa vs Manchester United
Sometimes it pays to keep things simple & this looks a penalty kick (hopefully not taken by Wayne Rooney...) for United here as they look to maintain their position at the summit of the Premier League table. Villa managed their second win of the season with a gutsy 1-0 win at Sunderland last week but this looks altogether tougher against Ferguson's side who've now won 8 of their last 9 in the league scoring 26 goals in the process & they should have too much firepower for Villa to compete.
(Along with Valencia, Rafael has been wreaking havoc down the right)
A lot has been made of how often United have fallen behind in games but Villa's offense is so impotent they may not trouble the back four that have now been playing together for some time since Vidic's injury & looked to have Arsenal's offense completely shut down on Saturday. United have actually scored plenty of early goals themselves with their new star Robin van Persie having scored in the first half in 5 league games already. Being on the road doesn't bother United either with them having won all 4 since their opening day loss to Everton & they should play on the front foot from the start here.
Villa have only scored more than one goal on one occasion & although their defence is pretty sound they've only played Everton & Spurs out of the teams you could consider the better in the league & their inexperienced full backs Matt Lowton & Joe Bennett could have their hands full with United's wingers & the overlapping Rafael & Evra. United are getting a lot of success scoring from crosses & passes from the wide areas but can hurt from the middle too. The 4/7 about a United win looks more than fair but for better odds look for them to be winning at half time & full time at odds of 11/8.
Blackburn Rovers vs Birmingham City
Blackburn & their fans haven't had the easiest couple of years with their idiosyncratic Indian owners at the helm but the Rovers faithful got what they wanted with Steve Kean's sacking & now have their first home game with new boss & ex-player Henning Berg in charge, coming up against a pretty mediocre Birmingham side.
(Blackburn's 'old man' Morten Gamst Pedersen still has a quality delivery)
Lee Clark has come in as Birmingham manager but hasn't really got his ragtag squad firing whilst going forward & they rank joint 3rd worst in terms of goals with just 17 in 15 games & lost to bottom of the league Ipswich last Saturday. They did win at Bristol City on Tuesday but they were themselves in 23rd place & this a tougher assignment against a Blackburn side that retain a lot of good players considering the upheaval at the club. Their big summer signing was powerful young striker Jordan Rhodes & he's starting to hit his stride, scoring in 3 of their last 5 games. Rovers have also got a decent enough defence & rank joint 3rd best in terms of goals conceded - it would be better if they hadn't conceded 3 in consecutive games against Leeds & Bristol City (losing neither).
With what promises to be a full house at Ewood Park Blackburn should really push forwards in this one against Birmingham who have looked woeful at times (particularly the 5-0 loss to Barnsley & the recent Ipswich game). Even with losing to red-hot Palace & drawing once getting 2-1 up against Huddersfield, Rovers are still in the playoff places whilst Birmingham languish close to the relegation zone so take the 21/20 for a Blackburn win.
Selections:
Manchester United to beat Aston Villa HT/FT at 11/8 (Stan James)
Blackburn Rovers to beat Birmingham City at 21/20 (BetVictor & Stan James)
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