Manchester United vs West Brom September 28, 2013

Tweet

Manchester United will be looking to get back to winning ways in the Premier League when they host West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

The Red Devils started to get a 4-1 mauling at the Etihad Stadium out of their system in midweek as they edged out another of their fiercest rivals, Liverpool, in a Capital One Cup clash.

David Moyes will, however, be aware of the need to offer a positive response in the league - especially in front of an expectant Old Trafford fan base.

It has been a testing start for the Scot, in his first season as Sir Alex Ferguson's successor, but the schedule would appear - on paper at least - to be a little more favourable over the coming weeks.

The same cannot said for West Brom, who will face United, Arsenal and Liverpool before the end of October.

Steve Clarke could do without such a run, but can take comfort from the fact that a first victory of the season was secured last time out against Sunderland - at the fifth time of asking.

Building on that result is the challenge facing the Baggies, but a record which has seen them go 35 years without success at Old Trafford does not bode well.

David Moyes's side suffered a heavy defeat to local rivals Manchester City last Sunday, although they did secure a 1-0 win over Liverpool in the League Cup on Wednesday evening.

Wednesday night's 1-0 win over Liverpool eased the pressure on David Moyes slightly and his team can go into Saturday's clash with West Brom in reasonably optimistic mood.

The start of the season has been far from perfect, but the difficult run of fixtures is over and there can be no more excuses. Manchester United now have a winnable sequence of league games and it is crucial they take as many points as they can during this period, beginning on the weekend.

Moyes made eight changes to the team that was torn apart by Manchester City.

His changes responded with a positive performance in the Capital One Cup, deservedly winning the game after some spells of genuinely excellent football, a rare treat this season. It will be interesting to see what side the manager opts for on Saturday afternoon.

West Brom come into the match off the back of a penalty shootout defeat to Arsenal in the same competition.

Moyes has no new injury concerns and may be tempted to hand a start to Javier Hernandez, who scored the winning goal against Liverpool.

Midfielders Shinji Kagawa and Nani are also in contention to start, while striker Robin van Persie may miss the match as he continues his recovery from a groin injury.

West Brom boss Steve Clarke is expected to recall goalkeeper Boaz Myhill and midfielder Manuel Amalfitano after both were rested against Arsenal.

Man Utd: De Gea; Smalling, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Carrick, Fellaini; Valencia, Kagawa, Nani; Rooney

West Brom: Myhill; Jones, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell; Amalfitano, Mulumbu, Morrison, Sinclair, Sessegnon; Anelka

Manchester United vs Bayer Leverkusen September 17, 2013

Tweet

Just before Manchester United’s most important game against Bayer Leverkusen, the one in 2002 that had a place in a European Cup final in Sir Alex Ferguson’s home city of Glasgow at stake, Roy Keane looked around him. There, as the Champions League anthem played, he noticed one of his team-mates, whom the Irishman  untypically refused to name, “shaking with nerves”.

There will be a shiver running through David Moyes’s body as the music plays at Old Trafford tonight but it will be of anticipation rather than fear. When the realisation he would be succeeding Ferguson began to roll through his mind, it would have been occasions like this that would have seemed most thrilling.

No stadium in England transforms itself for European nights quite like Old Trafford. On Saturday against Crystal Palace the atmosphere was flat and  routine in a way it seldom is at Anfield. However, under the floodlights it  becomes what it is, one of the world’s great arenas. As he gave his first Champions League press conference, Moyes was sitting in a room in which there were 15 separate photographs of United players and managers with the European Cup.

Manchester: David Moyes will sample the Champions League group phase for the first time on Tuesday when his Manchester United side host Bayer Leverkusen in their opening Group A fixture.

Moyes was selected to succeed Alex Ferguson as United manager at the end of last season despite having only overseen two matches in the competition during his 11-year tenure at Everton.

Manchester United are set to pair Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie in attack again for the Champions League clash with Bayer Leverkusen.

Rooney is close to a full recovery from a head injury sustained in training and scored against Palace at the weekend.

There are still doubts over Shinji Kagawa with boss Moyes saying at Monday's press conference: "He has a bit of flu. He did some work yesterday and a little bit today."

Youngster Adnan Januzaj, who impressed off the bench against Palace, is not part of the squad.

Manchester United vs Bayer Leverkusen September 17, 2013

Moyes confirmed that the complicated UEFA eligibility criteria means if United wait to register him until October 7, by which time he will have been with the Reds for two years, he can go on the B list of youth players.

Those games, in 2005, saw the Merseyside club beaten 4-2 by Villarreal over two legs in the third qualifying round, but Moyes is relishing the prospect of a second bite at the apple.

"I have been in the Champions League before but I have not made the group stage. I had quite a few episodes in the Europa League, which were good, but nothing at the level of the Champions League.

"We will do our homework to make sure we are as prepared as we can be."

United are the only genuine European heavyweights in the group, but with Shakhtar Donetsk and Real Sociedad making up the pool, there is not a weak team in Group A either.

Moyes says that although things could have been better, they could also have been a lot worse.

"It was the first time I have been involved in a draw at that level," said the Scot.

"When the names came out, there were some that I didn`t want and others I would have been happy with. Relatively, I am quite pleased.

Manchester United predicted starting XI:

De Gea; Fabio, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Valencia, Carrick, Giggs, Nani, Rooney, Van Persie.

Where: Old Trafford in Manchester, England

When: Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 2:45 p.m. ET (7:45 p.m. BST)

Manchester United vs Chelsea August 26, 2013

Tweet

United cruised to top spot last term but the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson and return to Chelsea of Mourinho has left many thinking that Moyes will be hard pressed to keep the trophy at Old Trafford.

The reigning champions were also given a difficult set of fixtures at the start of the season, including trips to Anfield and the Etihad Stadium in September, to increase the pressure on Moyes.

The Blues have won both of their first two games and would go six points clear of United if they win on Monday. "There is lots I've been looking forward to: taking the team on tour, leading them at Wembley," Moyes said. "But to do it [lead the team out] at Old Trafford for the first game against Chelsea is a thrill, it really is." Moyes, who left Everton for United in the summer, oversaw an emphatic 4-1 victory over Swansea in his opening game in charge, while Mourinho has started his second stint at Stamford Bridge with home wins over Hull City and Aston Villa.

The match will represent David Moyes’ competitive debut at the Theatre of Dreams, while Jose Mourinho will be returning to this ground for a Premier contest for the first time since November 2006, when his side earned a 1-1 draw.

Manchester United vs. Chelsea 

On Sunday, Chelsea announced via their official website that they had completed the £30 million acquisition of Brazilian playmaker Willian from Shakhtar Donetsk—a signing that saw Mourinho’s summer transfer spending surpass £57 million.

Rumour has it that Chelsea will make a third offer for Rooney after this game is out of the way. The fact is that David Moyes has steadfastly maintained the position that Rooney will not be sold. And who will be Mourinho's choice for Chelsea up front? Fernando Torres sat out their league game against Aston Villa last Wednesday, but he's not started either of their two matches against Manchester United at Old Trafford since perpetrating the most glaring of misses in front of the Stretford End when Andre Villas Boas' Chelsea were beaten 3-1 almost two years ago.

So on the tenth day of this new Premier League season comes the first big summit meeting - the first coming together of two of last season's top four. And of course the firsts also keep coming for Manchester United's new manager David Moyes - this is his bow with his new club at Old Trafford in the league. And as he himself pointed out, he was not done any favours when the fixture computer served up Jose Mourinho's new Chelsea as his team's opponents.

One benefit of this kind of team being in existence was in the brief periods when two such beasts overlapped, and genuinely great games resulted. This era was at it's zenith during the age of great United-Arsenal clashes, so recent yet seeming so far away that teams containing Robert Pires can still get talked about with an "ah, those were the days son, when men were men" wistfulness.

Manchester United and Chelsea are a long way from being as invulnerable as either of those two sides, but they may produce a sort of bastardised version of their best performances. Unless Robin van Persie breaks his leg, this match is not a decisive encounter, or even an important clash or anything from which there is particularly much to be learned. Both teams will have severe nerves, but also very little to lose. A frantic game is a clear possibility, and ending the game with 22 players on the pitch seems unlikely.

ESPN has reported Chelsea are preparing a third bid for the disgruntled England forward—likely to be in the £40 million range. And given Willian’s arrival, pending an immigration hearing, Mourinho could possibly include Juan Mata in a swap deal for the 27-year-old in order to twist United’s arm.

Manchester United injuries: Young, Rafael, Hernandez, Nani, Fletcher

Chelsea injuries: Luiz

Wayne Rooney can save his Manchester United career with a huge performance in Monday night’s clash with Chelsea.

As reported by Mark Ogden of The Telegraph, the new boss confirmed Rooney is in his plans for the early season showdown. United suffered a 1-0 loss to the Blues in the corresponding fixture last campaign and need to grab three points if they are to maintain pace with Jose Mourinho’s crammed squad.

Interestingly, it was the last Premier League visit of Chelsea that saw speculation surrounding Rooney's future intensify. Sir Alex Ferguson benched him for the game, much like the Champions League battle with Real Madrid, adding fuel to a fire that would quickly grow out of control.

Date: 8:00 p.m. BST; 3:00 p.m. ET 26 August 2013

Venue:Old Trafford, Manchester

Referee: Martin Atkinson

Swansea vs Manchester United August 17, 2013

Tweet

Jonathan de Guzman will miss Swansea's Premier League opener against Manchester United due to concussion.
The Dutch midfielder was hurt in a training ground collision with Dirk Kuyt while on international duty and could also miss the first leg of the Europa League play-off against Petrolul Ploiesti.
Pablo Hernandez and Jonjo Shelvey are available again after their respective groin injury and illness, while Wilfried Bony is set to feature despite only arriving back from Ivory Coast's friendly against Mexico in New Jersey late last on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, David Moyes must decide whether to include Wayne Rooney in the squad for his first Premier League game as Manchester United manager at Swansea.

United arrive with an aura because of what has gone before to take on a Swans side whose own success last term etched itself into the record books after what can easily be argued as the club’s greatest ever season.

The thing with history, though, that it is in the past.

And, as it is on the opening day of a season more than any other, it is the future and what lies ahead that now matters.

For both clubs at the Liberty Stadium in this early evening kick-off; they must know that while history can be built upon, it cannot be relied upon.

David Moyes will bring his Manchester United team to Swansea on the season's opening dayDavid Moyes will bring his Manchester United team to Swansea on the season's opening day  
Yet while there remains real intrigue as how United will cope with such a challenge under new Scottish stewardship, it is how Swansea have embraced that fact that offers such optimism. Not only of today, where there are genuine hopes of a first Premier League victory over the men from Old Trafford, but of the long season that stands before them.

Manager Michael Laudrup had repeatedly warned that Swansea needed to improve just to be in with a chance of meeting mid-table targets. Whether you buy the belief that such thinking was the crux of the matter for the summer tension over his future at the club or not, Swansea have done that.

They have spent like never before, although the £20m on six recruits indeed seems like good budgeted business given the strength of the squad the Dane can call upon later today. Including, of course, that striker in £12m man Wilfried Bony that was so clearly needed to add greater goal threat and perhaps get even more from that man Michu, a player who had the now retired Ferguson cursing his scouting staff last year.

Rooney completed 65 minutes of his first game of the summer when England defeated Scotland on Wednesday and is expected to be on the bench at the Liberty Stadium.

Venue:Liberty Stadium
Kick-off: Saturday 17 August (kick-off 17:30 BST).
Swansea (Possible, 4-4-1-1): Vorm; Rangel, Williams, Amat, B Davies; Routledge, Britton, Shelvey, Hernandez; Michu; Bony.
Out: De Guzman (concussion).
Manchester United (Possible, 4-4-1-1): De Gea; Jones, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Valencia, Carrick, Anderson, Cleverley; Welbeck; Van Persie.
Out: Fletcher (colitis), Hernandez, Rafael (both hamstring), Nani (groin), Young (unspecified).