ENGLISH PREMIER BETTING PICK - MIDDLESBROUGH V MANCHESTER UNITED

English Premier

2009-05-02 - Middlesbrough vs Manchester United

A Sports Betting Pick by Cruiser

Analysis:

Manchester United with a three point lead at the top of the Premiership with a game to spare goes to The Riverside knowing that they carry a slim 1-0 win over Arsenal in the Champions League so you can expect to see changes for this match against Middlesbrough lying second from bottom in the Premiership

United knows that they must keep their top players fresh after they were knocked out by A.C Milan two years ago at the semi-finals stage after going down 3-0 in the second leg. Back then United won the first leg 3-2 but as they were challenging for the Premiership as well, fielded a full strength side when they beat Everton 4-2 but were then beaten in the return leg against A.C Milan.

However, despite the changes, United are still favourites to win this match as they have a number of players at their disposal. Sir Alex Ferguson will want to go six points top since Liverpool is not playing until Sunday.

But Middlesbrough are also desperate for the points as they are staring at relegation at the moment. They are three points from safety with four games more to play. Boro comes into the match knowing that they have beaten sides in the top four before. Against Liverpool, they managed to get a win in early April while they also managed a draw against Arsenal back in December.

While against United in their last nine meetings in all competitions they managed to win three and drawn two at The Riverside. Since 2009, Boro are unbeaten at home, a run which stretches for 7 games now.

With regards to the team news, skipper Emanuel Pogatetz is out of this match after suffering a recurrence of a knee injury he picked up against Bolton a month ago. Meanwhie defender Chris Riggott is out of this clash after picking up an injury a reserve match.

Striker Afonso Alves could find himself restored to the starting lineup after he scored two goals against the Champions in this fixture last season.

For the Red Devils, they are likely to be without Rio Ferdinand after he was forced off with a suspected rib injury against Arsenal on Wednesday. Ferguson is likely to start with the likes of Ben Foster, Paul Scholes and Park Ji-Sung considering they did not start their last match. Wes Brown could play some part in this match after fully recovering from a foot injury but is lacking match fitness. Gary Neville is still out for a further week.

Take Manchester United to win here by a slim margin.

Cheers and good luck,
Cruiser

The Statistics :

The Pick :

BEST BETTING TIP :

Take Manchester United to win this match.