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You might have realised that this is the second consecutive league game that I'm previewing with this title. A couple of weeks ago, I stated that the home games against Burnley and Hull were must wins given how many points we dropped in December and also considering the fixture list after these games.
Next Sunday we visit the Emirates Stadium and in all probability, we'll be playing against the team that is on top. Arsenal have shown a bit of title winning form of late and so we'll have to be at our very best to get the result we want. I'll leave it at that for now because it's a different game tomorrow.
We are out of the FA Cup and so are Hull so we are the the only team that plays tomorrow. It's a chance for us to go top of the league as where we are right now is in more ways than one unacceptable! I mean we kick off tomorrow in third place having played a game more than Chelsea. It really does say a lot about the need to win. Quite frankly, only the most optimistic fan will still have hopes for a fourth title in a row if we fail to post another three points against Hull tomorrow.
Our team is getting stronger by the day so the excuse of injuries is almost pointless these days. I thought we played well at City on Tuesday. If we match that performance, then we could not only win but also eat well into the goal difference gap between us and the top two.
Granted, the opportunity is there for United to take a threshold of this league. Whether we take it is a different matter--but a look into the future suggests that any of the top three clubs is bound to drop points within the next couple of weeks. After our visit at the Emirates, Arsenal travel to Stamford Bridge--it essentially means that if we beat Arsenal, we can comfortably watch our rivals cancel each other out the following week---and who know, table leadership could be ours heading into February!
All that though heavily depends on getting three points tomorrow. Berbatov is fit again and so should play. Rio Ferdinand, after missing 19 fixtures, will start in defence (hopefully he'll be back to his very best). The rest, bar Hargreaves(three weeks) and O'Shea(possibly the rest of the season) should be fit.
We've got Mame Briam Diouf, who seems to have the touch of an assassin infront of goal. Did I mention that he came off the bench at City and directed a sweet header at the City goal--I thought it was a good leap and good strength and determination to connect with the ball given the crowded box.
He's now made it four goals for United with a treble of goals for the reserves on Thursday night. At this rate, we might not need a striker after all--I only hope that he keeps his feet on the ground. Diouf should be in the reckoning for the game tomorrow as well.
We beat them rather easily at the end of 2009 but we all saw their ability to grind out a result last week against Spurs. We need to keep our wits about them
There will be nothing as good as going top this weekend whilst our rivals get dumped from the Cup!
Labels: PREVIEWS
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