International breaks have not always been popular among the fans and
staff of Manchester United, especially Sir Alex Ferguson. Inconvenient
injuries have become a regular occurrence during them in recent years.
Very rarely are there exceptions. Luckily for us, this recent break has
been a mightily successful one for United players away with their
countries.
A host of our big names scored as well as a couple of unlikely
candidates getting well deserved recognition in the media like Jonny
Evans enjoyed, following his phenomenal performance against Nani and co.
Robin van Persie continued his fine form for club and country with
another goal as well as two stars of last season, Wayne Rooney and Danny
Welbeck, both opening their accounts for this season.
Most importantly, everybody came back fit and raring to go for Saturday afternoon’s game against Stoke City. It is sure to be a tough game against
Stoke, a side known for their physical approach. Having already taken
points from both Manchester City and Arsenal this campaign, they
certainly know what it takes to upset the big boys. Following an
impressive defensive display at Anfield before the international break,
they are in good shape for a trip to Old Trafford, a place which no
longer holds its reputation of being a fortress.
Blackburn Rovers, Everton and more
recently Tottenham Hotspur have shown that it is now a place where
dreams do indeed come true but not always for the home side. With that
said, Manchester United are in good form. Our emphatic 3-0 win at St
James’ Park has almost certainly put the wings back into our sails as
Sir Alex continues to experiment with his line-ups, ultimately trying to
find out what works best.
It is hard to argue against the diamond
formation used against Newcastle after such a dominant win. The ability
to use Rooney, van Persie and Kagawa is invaluable and this system seems
to accommodate all three.
A change of personnel on Saturday is
inevitable, with the return of winger Ashley Young giving us an extra
option out wide. With a tough run of games coming up, it is entirely
possible that none of the England players who were delayed midweek
(Rooney, Cleverley, Welbeck and Carrick) will play a part on Saturday,
giving those who stayed at Carrington a chance from the start. Against
such a physical side, it may be wise to leave all four out,
re-introducing them on Tuesday night against Braga.
At the back, an unchanged back five from
those that played at Newcastle is the only way I see it going, with
Jonny Evans and Patrice Evra in a great run of form. After both scoring
in that 3-0 win in the north-east, they have silenced their critics.
Evra’s performance was perhaps his best in two years. This form
continued in midweek for France against Spain in their 1-1 draw. Chris
Smalling, who was expected to be back for tomorrow’s game, is ‘still not
there yet’ according to Ferguson, and will miss out. With Anders
Lindegaard thought to be out with a knock, David de Gea is expected to
take his place between the sticks for the third consecutive game, and
rightly so.
In attack, it’s not as simple. Robin van
Persie, who has himself been carrying the attack from the start of the
season, is the only man who’s name is more than likely already on the
team sheet. Wayne Rooney is of course in contention and after his
goalscoring antics away with England he is sure to be full of
confidence. The same can be said about Danny Welbeck, who hit two goals
against San Marino last Friday. Javier Hernandez also enjoyed his
international break, scoring for Mexico. It is therefore impossible to
even speculate who will get the nod.
Here is my preferred starting eleven.
Onto my prediction for the game. I expect it to be a very difficult test
against a stubborn Stoke side, who are giant killing specialists as of
late. However, after the win away in Newcastle two weeks ago, and the
success of the players away with their countries, I can only see one
outcome. I am going to go with a 2-0 win to Manchester United, with
goals from Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney
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