Fulham vs Manchester United Preview

Second last team in the league Fulham and second top team Manchester United are set to face each other tomorrow in what should prove to be a difficult home encounter for Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Ryan Giggs is set to miss the match after not fully recovering from a calf strain, while Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic are are both fit.

Players to look out for

Clint Dempsy is Fulham's top scorer with 6 league goals. United may have trouble with the tall midfielder but put in Owen Hargreaves and problem solved.

Fulham's Finnish defender Toni Kallio has had previous experience with Cristiano Ronaldo. Kallio played very well against Ronaldo during the Finland - Portugal games at the EURO 2008 qualifiers and will be up for the challenge again tomorrow. The games finished 1-1 and 0-0 respectively, with Roy Hodgson as Finalnd's manager

USA international Brian McBride has returned from injury and has scored 2 goals against United to date.

Stats

Fulham have not been able to beat Manchester United at Craven Cottage since they were promoted, the last Fulham beat them was back in 1964 with a 2-1 victory.

The last time the Reds dropped points was in December 2004 with 1-1 draw.

However the wins have come with one goal margins for United. Last season's corresponding fixture finished 2-1 with a late goal from Ronaldo to provide United with the win.

Predictions

Manchester United will reclaim top spot in the league if they beat Fulham and Arsenal lose.

With Fulham's form of late, 1 win in the last 15 games, they seem set to welcome a demolition from the Red Devils. We all saw what happened to Newcastle last week.

However I don't think we will see a 5-1 win tomorrow, although I do predict that United will win. Nani will most likely be playing and his crosses have been first class this season. Along with Ronaldo, Tevez and Rooney, United have the necessary ammo to fire them to victory

Although Fulham shouldn't be written off. They're in battle against relegation and they are usually quite strong at home. They have beaten Chelsea and Liverpool at Craven Cottage in the past and United should be careful not to suffer the same fate.

Manchester United will have to guard against complacency tomorrow but I think they come out with a 2-0 win.

Wes Brown Holding Out For £80K

After rejecting Manchester United's offer of £55 000-a-week, Wes Brown feels that he's worth more.

Apparently the defender is holding out for £80k-a-week. Are you kidding me?

In my opinion I do not think Wes Brown is worth that much, I agree with Sir Alex Ferguson when he says that the offer is more than genorous.

Let's take a look as to why he wants £80k:

1. He feels that he's worth more than £55k because in the absense of Gary Neville, he has become a first team regular.

2. Man Utd rejected Newcaslte's £800 000 bid for Brown last month and then placed a £3 million price tag for the player. His advisors claim that such a price should put Brown among the club's top-earners.

First of all, just because Wes Brown is filling in for Gary Neville does not make him worth £80k a-week. If Sir Alex Ferguson knew that he would lose Nevile for the majority of the season he may have invested in a defender. And when Gary Neville recovers, Brown will find himself on the bench again. I don't think a bench warmer is worth £80k and at 28, £55k is a good deal.

Secondly, I honestly doubt that players worth £3 million earn £80k a-week.

In last summer's transfer window four players in the Premiership moved for a fee of £3 million:

Oliver Kapo (Birmingham) Fredrik Ljungberg (West Ham) Kenny Miller (Derby) Claude Davis (Derby)

Out of the four, only Claude Davis is a defender and is also 28 years old.

So does that mean Davis should also be earning £80k a-week?

Wes Brown needs to get off his high horse, he's not going to get a better deal than the one Manchester United offered. Ferguson must be getting frustated with Wes' games now and his departure seems iniment. I just hope Brown relises how stupid he's being and accepts the deal.

If he doesn't accept, well United have Rafael and Fabio, two young Brazilian full-backs coming in the summer. The transfer window will be open, so if Brown does leave United will have the chance to buy somebody who's better than him

Lyon vs. Manchester United Preview

The Champions League starts off again this week, with Manchester United facing French opposition Lyon. Ryan Giggs is set to make his 100th apperance in the competition, making him the 8th player to reach that feat if he's featured in Wednesday's game.

Cristiano Ronaldo has recovered from a virus and is set to start at the Stade Gerland. While Gary Neville and Mikael Silvestre are still with long-term injuries.

Players to look out for

United will have to be on the look out for Lyon forward Karim Benzema and winger Hatem Ben Arfa. Benzema has scored 19 goals this season for Lyon and will pose a threat to United keeper van der Saar.

Hatem Ben Arfa has been compared to the likes of our Ronaldo recently and his trickery has gained rave reviews among pundits.

Pierre Michaud a journalist with French TV station Euronews described his game against Toulouse in mid-January as "out of this world". One word that is often being used in analysis of Ben Arfa's game is "unpredictable" and with Michaud having seen almost every game from the Stade Gerland, he certainly seen it all.

Karim Benzema (left) celebrating with Hatem Ben Afra (right)

United will need to find a way to contain Ben Arfa and cut off the supply to Benzema and Fred. Ben Arfa's dribbling may be difficult for United's defence to deal with but it is nothing they can't handle.

Lyon's defence

Lyon will have be wary of Manchester United's attack. Lyon's defence is a cause of concern; Fabio Grosso and Anthony Reveillere are the weak links and with the likes of Nani, Giggs and Ronaldo looming, they may have some trouble.

Lyon has leaked a goal almost every game and conceded 8 goals in the group stages this season. And with United never been shy of attacking, Lyon will be under pressure to not give the visitors an away goal.

Stats

The only previous meeting between the two clubs was back in the 2004-05 Champions League group stage. The first match ended 2-2 at the Stade Verland and the second a 2-1 win for United.

Lyon hasn’t lost in the last 4 games in the Champions League this season, while United are unbeaten in all six games.

Cristiano Ronaldo is currently the joint top scorer in this year's competition along with Inter's Ibrahimovich both on 5 goals.

Predictions

United are facing Lyon at a good time, even though they are trailing Arsenal in the league by 5 points, they managed to beat them last Saturday 4-0. They will be going into the game full of confidence and with every chance of getting something out of the game.

Meanwhile Lyon lost to Le Mans 1-0 last weekend and will be out to make amends for the defeat. They are top of Ligue 1 by only 1 point in front of Bordeaux.

With Lyon denfence and United's fondness of attacking, both teams will up for a fight. I hugely doubt that either team will sit back and defend.

United will be seeking for an away goal to take back to Old Trafford and Lyon's main strength is their fire power up front with Benzema.

United Fire The Gunners Out

Manchester United against Arsenal was probably the game everybody was waiting to watch. But few would have predicted the 4-0 score line United produced.

Now a lot has happened since my last post and I'm sorry for the wait. Capello started his reign as England manager with a win. Manchester United's Angolan striker Manucho made an impression in the African Cup of Nations and moved to Greek side Panathinaikos on loan. Whereas Premier League's plan for a 39th game abroad has been hitting headlines the past week.

FA Cup

Manchester United 4 - 0 Arsenal

United produced a stunning display to deny Arsenal a place in the quarter-finals. Rooney (16min), Fletcher (20min, 78min) and Nani (38min) produced the goals. Arsenal always looked to be playing catch up with United and it was virtually game over for the Gunners when Eboue got sent off.

Manchester United's passing was on the spot that day and they looked brilliant at the back too. After the 2-1 loss to City last weekend, United certainly improved their performance and made an amends.

Liverpool 1 - 2 Barnsley

In the other games, Barnsley's Brian Howard sent his team to the quarter-finals with last minute strike against Liverpool. To make matters worse Liverpool lost at Anfield to Barnsley, then again United have done the same in the past season.

Benitez's rotation policy is certainly proving to be the reason for Liverpool's form. Sure it's nice to get everybody playing some games, but how can they gel if there's a different line-up every week. Benitez left Gerrard on the bench for the game and ultimately removed Liverpool's inspiration from the field.

Chelsea 3 - 1 Huddersfield

Well this was no shocker.

Lampard scored twice and took his goal tally to 101, making him the 8th player for the blues to do so.

I really can't be bothered to write about Chelsea so I’m not going to tease myself with it.

Cardiff 2 - 0 Wolves

For the first time in 81 years Cardiff have progressed to the quater finals thanks to goals from Peter Whit Ingham and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

Wolves were terrible at the back and Cardiff capitalized. The full-backs were nowhere to be seen as the Bluebirds crossed from side to side.

The last time Cardiff went through was back in 1927. They became the first non-league team to ever lift the trophy. Hasselbaink has meanwhile played down the prospect of winning.

However they are with a chance if they can avoid the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea.

Coventry 0 - 5 WBA

Well I guess the score reflects what the game was like for Coventry.

A 5 – 0 away win is always sweet but you have to feel sorry the supporters. The sending off of Michael Doyle certainly didn’t help.

WBA were holding onto a 1-0 at half time and dismissal of Doyle helped to open up space for WBA.

Bristol Rovers 1 - 0 Southampton

Bristol Rovers sent the Saints crashing out after Ricky Lambert rounded off an impressive display with a late free-kick to secure the Pirates’ progression.

Bristol Rovers are playing in League One and had already knocked out Premiership strugglers Fulham in this year’s competition and were determined to have a go at the Saints.

Paul Trollope’s side controlled most of the possession throughout the game and certainly deserved the win.

There are 2 more games to be played with Sheffield Utd – Middlesbrough and Preston North End – Portsmouth playing later on Sunday.

Four teams outside of the Premier League are through and the draw takes place on Monday 1325 GMT.

FA Cup Finalists Geoff Thomas and Mark Bright will be drawing the ball along with Sir Trevor Brooking.

The games will be played on the weekend of 8 & 9 March, the winners of the ties will receive £300 000.

The draw numbers:

1. Bristol Rovers
2. Cardiff City
3. Sheffield United or Middlesbrough
4. Barnsley
5. Manchester United
6. Preston North End or Portsmouth
7. West Bromwich Albion (WBA)
8. Chelsea