Premiership: Manchester United V Birmingham City – Saturday, 22nd January

Manchester United V Birmingham City

Saturday, 22nd January – 15:00 (GMT)
Venue: Old Trafford

Manchester United

There are few better at working towards a common goal than Manchester United, so the fact United sit atop of the Barclay’s Premier League couple with having gone the entire season thus far without losing, only makes them a formidable force heading into the what should be another barn-storming finish from the Red Devils.

Since the middle of November, only two teams have managed to stop a relentless United team in their tracks. One of those was Tottenham, the North London outfit holding Sir Alex’s men to a 0-0 draw at White Hart Lane last Sunday in what was actually a satisfactory result for the temperamental Scot, who had his patience tested after full-back Rafael was shown a harsh second yellow card which means the Brazilian is now ruled out of Saturday’s contest with Birmingham. The second team was Birmingham at St Andrews just three weeks ago.

Although those two small blips occurred outside of Manchester, United have found recent meetings with the Blues ‘testing’ to say the very least. The previous two encounters at Old Trafford have both finished 1-0 in United’s favour, Wayne Rooney scoring the winner last season. However, while Birmingham have stuck to their task of defending valiantly tremendously well in recent visits, United still boast an outrageously impressive head-to-head record against the Blues, having won all six of the previous Premier League meetings at Old Trafford without conceding.

The fact Birmingham have never scored a Premier League goal at Old Trafford is actually a poignant statistic, seeing as United have secured six of their eleven wins at home this season with a clean sheet. Throw into the mix a couple of statistics I read up on Yahoo Sport; United have conceded the less shots on goal and Birmingham having had fewer attempts on target than any other side in the top-flight, and United to beat Birmingham City for the seventh time in a row without conceding suddenly becomes a delightful little bet.

As bizarre as it is, West Brom are the only team this season not to have found Manchester United at Old Trafford too hot to handle. Everyone else, including the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham, have all been dispatched and we have every confidence that Birmingham will follow suit. Wayne Rooney should return to wreak havoc on a defence he has scored four goals against during his career, meanwhile Dimitar Berbatov has scored 12 of his 14 league goals at Old Trafford this and coupled with the strongest home defence in the league, United really should make mincemeat of Birmingham.

Man Utd Fact: The Red Devils have gone in at half-time with a lead in each of their eleven games at Old Trafford this season, although only once, against West Brom, have they failed to hang onto their advantage.

Birmingham City

Goals from Alex Hleb and Scott Dann against Blackpool at Bloomfield Road helped Birmingham banish their away voodoo of being the only team in the Premier League not to have won an away fixture this season at that point, however any chance of them recording their first set of back-to-back away wins in the Premier League appear slim at best considering their very next away encounter is against Manchester United at Old Trafford, where Birmingham have never even scored a Premier League goal let alone registered a point.

Six previous visit to Manchester for a clash with the Red Devils in the Premiership has left Birmingham with burnt fingers, despite their best efforts in putting up tern resistance. And resisted they have, as their last two trips has seen them come away with two narrow losses which coupled with their recent upturn in away form, having beaten Blackpool and Millwall in the last two weeks alone, should at least give the team some comfort and food for thought in a fixture which down the years they’ve dreaded, and still very much do.

While Alex Mcleish will try his best to convince folk like us that he and his team are focusing solely on Saturday’s trip to Old Trafford, it’s almost impossible, particularly those of foreign descent in the Birmingham dressing room, for them not to have at least one eye on their midweek semi-final clash with West Ham in the Carling Cup. In fact, had McLeish not found himself in desperate need of the points, with his team languishing near the foot of the table and vulnerable to spending another week inside the bottom three should they suffer their seventh league defeat of the season, might have rested some of his key players with Tuesday’s clash in mind. After all, few expect them to take anything away from their visit to Old Trafford. Their record there speaks for itself.

Unfortunately for McLeish, circumstances dictate and in this instance the Scot will have little option but to name his strongest eleven, as Premier League points are far more important than a Carling Cup final at Wembley, despite how glamorous that may sound to the fans. Centre-half Scott Dann, who has been a rock alongside Roger Johnson, has been ruled out with a hamstring injury though Cameron Jerome should return to lead the attack despite missing last Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Aston Villa. David Bentley will make his second appearance for the club in the absence of set-piece specialist Sebastian Larsson.

Birmingham Fact: The Blues have scored in seven of their ten away matches this season, one less than amount of times Birmingham have failed to score at Old Trafford in the Premier League (6).
 

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Last 5 Results

Manchester United

Premiership: Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 Manchester United
FA Cup: Manchester United 1-0 Liverpool
Premiership: Manchester United 2-1 Stoke City
Premiership: West Brom 1-2 Manchester United
Premiership: Birmingham City 1-1 Manchester United

Birmingham City

Premiership: Birmingham City 1-1 Aston Villa
FA Cup: Millwall 1-4 Birmingham City
Carling Cup: West Ham 2-1 Birmingham City
Premiership: Blackpool 1-2 Birmingham city
Premiership: Birmingham City 0-3 Arsenal

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Head-to-Head (Last 5 Seasons)

2010/2011: Birmingham City 1-1 Manchester United

2009/2010: Birmingham City 1-1 Manchester United
2009/2010: Manchester United 1-0 Birmingham City

2007/2008: Manchester United 1-0 Birmingham City
2007/2008: Birmingham City 0-1 Manchester United

2005/2006: Manchester United 3-0 Birmingham City
2005/2006: Birmingham City 2-2 Manchester United

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2010/2011 Premiership Statistics

Manchester United

League Position: 1st
Win-Draw-Lose: 12-9-0 (Home: 10-1-0)
Goal Difference: 43-19 (Home: 29-7)
Form: WDWWD (Home: WWWWW)
Top Scorer: Dimitar Berbatov (14)

Birmingham City

League Position: 16th
Win-Draw-Lose: 4-11-6 (Away: 1-5-4)
Goal Difference: 21-26 (Away: 11-15)
Form: LDLWD (Away: LDDLW)
Top Scorer: Craig Gardner (4)

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Betting Odds & Tips

Match Prediction: Manchester United to WIN – 1.25 William Hill

Birmingham’s record away to United in the Premier League is dire to say the very least, imperious if you’re looking at it from a United perspective. In six previous visits to Old Trafford for a Premiership encounter, Birmingham have failed to score even once, losing all six to NIL. Formidable stuff!

The Blues struggle to create chances at the best of times so up against a Scrooge-like United defence, another baren outing would appear on the card for Alex McLeish’s charges, who will work tirelessly for the cause, as they generally do, but lack any cutting edge in the final third do genuinely challenge the hosts for a share of the available spoils.

When United get themselves in front, they’re so difficult to peg back. Sir Alex’s men remain the pacesetters with games in hand over all their rivals. They’ve been almost untouchable at Old Trafford this season, winning ten of eleven on home soil, and with Wayne Rooney getting closer to his form of old, albeit not in the same scoring vein, and Dimitar Berbatov producing his finer displays this season at the Theatre of Dreams, not to mention the evergreen form of Ryan Giggs and Edwin Van Der Saar, it should be another routine win for the Premier League kings on Saturday, their seventh in a row at home over Birmingham City.

Value Bet: Manchester United to WIN to NIL – 1.73 SkyBet

The Red Devils have won all of their six previous home encounters with Birmingham City in the Premier League without conceding.

Match Odds:

Manchester United – 1.22 William Hill (General)
Draw – 7.00 Victor Chandler
Birmingham City – 17.00 Victor Chandler