After their Manchester derby defeat put them five points behind archrivals City in the Premier League table, Manchester United responded with back-to-back league wins over Everton and Sunderland and four consecutive wins in all competitions prior to the current international break.
United must keep that positive momentum going coming out of the international break. Maximum points from league fixtures against Swansea and Newcastle are a must to at least keep pace with City, and there’s also a big home Champions League tie against Benfica that could decide top spot in Group C.
Manchester United v SL Benfica
Advancing to the knockout rounds in the Champions League is always a must for United, but winning the group is also considered a top priority, given that it often means a favorable round of 16 matchup.
United have finished top of their Champions League group each of the last five seasons, and they’re in a good position to make it six in a row. United and Benfica are currently level at the top of the group with eight points, with Basel third on five points. If United take all three points against Benfica on 22 November and Basel fail to win in Romania against bottom side Otelul Galati, United will have top spot in Group C wrapped up ahead of next month’s group finale away to Basel.
When these two sides met in September at the Estadio da Luz, the end result was a 1-1 draw, with a Ryan Giggs stunner and a fine performance by Anders Lindegaard securing a point. In that clash, United didn’t field their strongest possible side, but with so much on the line when they face off at Old Trafford, expect Fergie to field an extremely strong side and more than likely go with two up front from the outset after starting Wayne Rooney as the lone striker in the tie in Lisbon.
Manchester United tickets are always in high demand, but European nights are a special occasion, especially when there’s as much to play for as there will be when United take on Benfica. Fortunately, you can find tickets for this important match at TicketBis from £55.90.
Swansea City v Manchester United
Coming out of the international break, United have a tricky trip to Wales to take on promoted side Swansea City on the 19th.
Swansea City struggled out of the gate, losing two and drawing two in their first four matches. But they’ve gone a respectable 3-2-2 since and have moved into the top half of the table. The Swans have yet to be beaten at home, going 3-2-0 in five home matches, and they held Liverpool to a goalless draw at Anfield in their last match before the break.
Along with being tough at home, Swansea have picked up valuable experience against several of the top sides in the Premier League, as they’ve already played at City, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool. Sure, they have only the one point against Liverpool to show for it, but they held City for almost an hour and also went down only 1-0 at the Emirates. So, they’ll be ready for what the reigning champions will throw at them, which means United will have to put in a quality performance to leave the Liberty Stadium victorious.
Manchester United v Newcastle United
Coming into the season, this might have been seen as three guaranteed points for United, and a United win is expected when Newcastle go to Old Trafford on the 26th. However, given the hot start the Magpies have had this season, it might be harder than expected. Newcastle are unbeaten in their first 11 league matches and sit a surprising third in the Premier League table, only one point behind United. They haven’t had too many stiff tests as of yet, but that doesn’t take the shine off of what they’ve accomplished to date.
Newcastle might be hoping to catch United in letdown mode after the Champions League tie with Benfica, but United will certainly have to taken Alan Pardew’s side very seriously, especially if they are able to, at the very least, make City sweat when they visit the Etihad Stadium the week before they face United.
Manchester United Tickets with TicketBis
Looking to buy Manchester United tickets online? You can get them from TicketBis, an online tickets exchange that helps football fans buy and sell tickets online for Premier League games and many other leagues and competitions in Europe and around the world.
Man Utd News 24/7
On the face of it three games we should win but when did we ever make anything easy ?
STR there’s also United vs Crystal Palace in the Carling Cup on 28th I think.
New post
Thank God
By the Admin?
Why where is that STR – on an impossible mission?
I put the fixtures on the Dogleash thread to show the Whining scousers Utd too have a busy period.
Crystal Palace are on the 30th.
Good post, cheers.
“archrivals”????
Noisy neighbour at most. They are by no means our archrivals. They are a minor team with no fuckin history or pride at all. A bunch of overpaid mercenaries that for once managed to find some kind of team spirit. But lets not call them archrivals just yet, they have to be “on top” in may for a couple of years in a row to become archrivals.
So Suarez is a raccist and used the N word over 10 times, he is now trying to say he used the negros which is not offensive in Uraguay. I hope he gets a lenghty ban and now lets see the dippers defend him saying he never meant it like that blah blah blah. It is indefensible and he used it to attack a fellow professional under his breath, he is a lying cheating biting racist.
I agree with T can we nip this arch rivals shit in the bud about City? Liverpool are our rivals, rivals we can be proud of, the second greatest club in the history of English football. City are just some Arab ponce’s gloried Subbuteo team. They get a local derby, but they don’t get to call themselves rivals til they win the title another fifteen times or so.
Meanwhile I think we ought to do well. Nothing in the incoming fixture list worries me for the month, but we need to be banking all the points as City face some tougher teams and won’t like the pressure.
Not a bad list of fixtures, beating Benfica is a must as it would secure first spot and would make the away game at Basel a formality…
I agree with T and Doghouse, shitty are by no means arch rivals, only team who fits that category are Liverpool
Actually there is an error in my last post, if we beat Benfica and Basel win their match then we would go there needing to avoid defeat to secure first spot…. Glad I got that sorted before Costas aka Costat picks up on it!
@Cedars
Mate are you mad, city are my biggest arch rivals. I think in terms of success etc then obviously Liverpool but if i had to win a game and lose a game over a season my win would always be against City unless it was title depending that obviously wh=ould want the best outcome for united.
Liverpool are the obvious enemy as we have been chasing them for so long but City are still and will always be the team I love to beat and laugh at when things go wrong.
Swans, eagles and magpies. Is this the zoo?
Some tricky games in there. Our away form makes the Swansea game unpredictable, our form in Europe thus far has been average and Newcastle are flying at the moment. Win these games and we will enter December with a ton of momentum.
giggs12gerrard0
Well for starters I am mad (No seriously I am! hahaha) Of course beating City every time we meet is a priority and like you say they are always good for a laugh, both the club and their fans…. To me personally beating Liverpool will always have me with a slightly bigger smile on my face… For many years I had to endure watching them win title after title as well as success in Europe. I am only arguing the term and not the fact if you know what I mean….
As for pure hate, only one team that I honestly love to hate and everyone here knows who that is, although I am not a hateful person by nature
@Costas,
Two sets of Eagles… Benfica and Palace!
Cedars
Indeed mate, i also think its from where you grow up as well and what era. All the Warrington reds I kow despise Liverpool more as they grew up with everyone being liverpool fans and in the 80′s that was hurrendous. I was brought up to catch Liverpool but hate City. PLus I used to get a smack from my old man telling me to stay away form that Main Road, and he wasnt talking about the Eccles interchange lol
Swansea will be very tricky, for a promoted team though, they keep the ball so well and have pace on the wings, they create chances so i think another compact solid display might be needed again, gotta be ruthless in front of the goal as wel, this is a potential banana skin game, in fact the upcoming three games are tricky, good results out of them all then momentum might just get restored gradually.
giggs12gerrard0
I lived in Chorlton, always had City supporting mates be it at school or later in college, even been to Main Road a few times. Don’t get me wrong I dislike them with a passion but for me calling them arch rivals is paying them respect that they do not deserve, that is where I am coming from… For me back then it was always about LIverpool and still is…. One of the sweetest memories I have was beating them in the 77 cup final and preventing them for doing the treble, I even had tickets arranged for that game but could not afford the trip down to London! bugger
@kanchelskis
Ha! That’s true mate. I forgot about them.
We’ll also face wolves in the following weeks.
Getting the experience needed to eventually become Ole’s number 2 perhaps?
Drooling
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Manchester-United-ready-to-promote-Paul-Scholes-as-reserve-team-manager-as-Warren-Joyce-heads-to-Hull-article830059.html
I heard some news over the weekend regarding pogba and that aparantly he is refusing the new deal and is going to accept an offer from arsenal in the summer.
Does anyone have any news on this at all?
@Sherpertonni
Hi mate it is true about him stalling, i think the Arsenal element is just rumours though. There are a few teams sniffing from what is being reported.
samuel – It will be a tough game pal, most are. Swansea’s problem is they struggle to score often enough. That little Joe Allen in the middle of the park is a decent little player. Big United fan.
King Eric
Not to mention we have to get past Vorm who has been outstanding this season
True about Joe Allen, big Scholes fan too I heard, calls him his idol… Good lad
Nostalgic moment for the day….. The player who never ever scored tap ins, I do not care what he went on to do, I will always love him…. Posted this before and for those who missed it, its really worth your while…. No audio though, sorry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivVhuFn0uns
In my opinion Sparky is one of the most powerful forwards we’ve ever had at United, by that I mean his sheer physique and ability to hold up the ball…. Guy could never be bullied, must be made of steel and along with Sir Bobby and Scholes one of the best strikers of the ball we’ve ever had
@Cedars, Here’s United coaching setup in 5 years. Manager – Ole. Assistant Manger: Gary Neville First Team Coach: Scholes. Goalkeeping coach: Edwin Van Der Sar. Throw in Giggs as a fitness trainer, who else to teach people on how to keep the body conditioned. And I will never ask God for another wish my entire life.
No excuses in the next two months. We must either get maximum points or as close to it as possible. I don’t see a lot of banana peels in the line up either. City are sure to slip up when they face injuries and potentially difficult fixtures. We should pounce on it to make sure we get back to where we belong.
Balaji
Cheers, just drooled all over my lap top at the thought, I honestly did! Cannot control my mouth with these relaxing medications I am on! What a thought eh?
@CedarsDevil
Hopefully Paul Scholes can pass on that tecnical ability and coach it in to our young players.
The type of midfielders required has changed to players with more emphasis on technical ability than tough tackling. The press does not and has never understood this which is why they laud Gerrard and Lampard, while Scholes remained anonymous is their praise. However praise from Zidane, Xavi, and Viera surpasses anything the press could ever put together.
@Fellow Reds
Anyhow I don’t know whether this has previously been mentioned but I was listening to The Guardian Football Weekly PodCast 07/11/11. At 19 mins 15 sec in James Richardson starts talking about Rooney in midfield. Jacob Steinberg responds with “I’d suggest Man United can put any combination they want (in midfield) and they won’t beat Barcelona in the Champions League.”
That’s quite a statement…!
Hello mates
Off topic, but Xabi Alonso speaks a lot of sense…In fact most Spanish midfielders do..
http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/248728/20111114/liverpool-star-xabi-alonso-lauds-manchester-united.htm?
Carrick just doesn’t get the credit he deserves…I think a big reason for United’s defensive frailty this season has been the fact that Carrick’s been missing from our midfield
As was quite brilliantly put by God Incarnate Sir Alex himself, “Cavalier excites you, but it doesn’t win you titles”
Not saying you cant win playing flowing football, but a gung-ho approach needs to be balanced and tempered with positional discipline which Carrick brings to the side….and saying Paul Scholes has been a miss would be one of THE understatements of all time
Ah King Eric back to his original avatar…..much better than that NM thing mate…!
Red Devil in the house, huge smile on my face!
Alpha – Answer is in your own post, its media crap….Everyone is obsessed with beating Barca or bettering them, I am not never was never will be. Win the league, that’s my personal priority, Europe is just a bonus. Furthermore we do not have a divine right to be the world’s best all the time, we will always be the best when it comes to our hearts and that for me matters much more than winning anything
Morning Reds it’s all in the terminology archrival means chief opponent which now is city,Utd’s archrivals change to whoever is the bigger threat.
wayne
Morning buddy, to me its about the constant and not the present…. Arsenal were rivals back in the day as have Chelsea been in recent years…. The term ‘arch rivals’ refers to one team and team alone and that is Liverpool ….. We will have other rivals in years to come I am sure, however we will only have one arch rival
@Cedars
Cheers for that fantastic welcome….! God bless you old man
Villa and Norwich were rivals in 92/93…. Arch rivals they most certainly are not… Hope I am making sense
Red Devil – Always a pleasure my friend
@Cedars hi mate the online dictionary classifies it as chief opponent which i’d take as present.There can be more than one archrival,all the comic book heroes had many archrivals.
Mind you I could add ‘fiercest arch rivals’ That specially belongs to Leeds
Sheep shagging hateful Munich chanting cunts
@Cedars i’ve mentioned before on of my first games live was the 5-1 drubbing at the hands of ‘super leeds’ i fucking hate Leeds and would definitly put them in old archrival category
Ir’s gonna be a November to remember!
wayne
Come on buddy, fuck on line dictionaries, I am sure you know where I am coming from
Scott, if you’re going to put adverts, sorry “sponsored posts” like this in the blog, it would be nice if you made it clear before we started reading it that it’s an advert, oops sorry “sponsored post”.
Fair play to you, if you can get kick backs, why shouldn’t you? But expecting your loyal readers to be put through crap like this without a heads up is unfair.
Scum they may be, but they’re not on our level when it comes to rivalry. Our arch rivals are Liverpool.
@giggs12gerrard0- Thanks for the reply,i hope he doesnt walk, read on men that he has two years left his current deal. cant understand why he wouldn’t want to stay at a club that is renowned for giving youth a chance and making superstars. – Nice name btw.
Ah Mes is back, another RoM great….. Hope you enjoyed your honey moon buddy and err of course did us proud! hahahaha
The world must be coming to an end, Fred and I have been agreeing a lot recently! hahahaha
@Cedars just winding you up mate
King Eric is back. So N M is No More?
What is a sponserd post and who is ‘admin’ jus askin???
@Redslevin means someone paid money for the thread,admin is short for administration,someone involved in running the blog wrote the article
As always Man Utd fighting on all fronts!!!
Sherpertonni word has it his agent is doing the same as that fat cunt agent did to Rooney. Not all but most agents are parasites.
This “admin” guy is no Ahmed Bilal, I’ll tell you that much.
Opinions, we all have them. The MF is a wonderful debate. I feel more competition will happen then cuts will be made. Will Pogba sign another contract, or a pre-contract with another team in Jan.? How will Tunni and Ravel develop? So inter development with a purchase or 2. Then late next summer or in the following window someone will go. SAF bid for Nasri and was after other MF’S that did not work out. SAF will not pay 28 million for a 20 million player then give him 150K per week instead of 110K.
I have no fucking idea when FFP rules start, and if they will work. If they hold back unlimited spending Man Utd looks pretty going forward with 110,000,000.00 turn over and selling the official deodorant in Thailand for 5 million a year. .
I partly agree with Giggs12Gerrard0 – not all agents are parasites, just the ones with pulses.
I love Man Utd and when you say I would play for them for less we would. So easy to say. When your not from the UK and some one offers you millions more to play for them? Until you have to make the call you never know how you would act. Most think in emergency’s they would act like men, until it happens and they run and scream like women. Most here are happy Shark face moved on. I do want more MF competition.
So true Zibbie. It’s not limited to foreigners though. These days, even players from the north-west of England are brazen enough to disrespect our great club in the name of getting more money elsewhere!
@giggs12gerrard0 – Really? thats shit but you’d think these footballers would only have to look at the players who have left to see it’s only down hill ( apart from pique) but i get guess the yankee dollar is to much for them to resist.hope he stays though. cant the club ban these agents from the club somehow.
The yankee dollar?
Where’s Pogba going? New York Red Bulls?
@Fred correct mate I just left in not all in case there was decent one out there.
@Sherpertonni I know mate its wank and he is being poorly advised and as zibbie says above can sign a pre contract for another team in Jan.
He needs to make an impact and wait his time before he becomes a big time Charlie.
wayne
Bugger off in that case! lol
IF these Pogba rumours are true, which I suspect they aren’t , then I agree with Giggs12. Bigtime Charlie.
@king Eric
Mate I hope they are not true also he has so much to give and prove. Wes tried a similar contract negotiations and learnt the boss doesn’t cave ( unless your name is Keano or Rooney). Pogba needs to get his deal signed and prove on the pitch his real worth
I’m expects United to win all remaining 8 games after City defeat. I believe United can do it. Afterall only City have better squad if not better than United. Who want to bet United will top City when we complete the first round end of December? I think Mancini will lost the plot when December coming.
watch out saturday for dyer, sinclair, routledge, graham or lita.. comon the swans.. good luck u mancs
Phil from Prestwich appreciation society says that we have tough games coming up and we need to win the lot or else it is City for the title.
We all hate Leeds!
‘We all hate Leeds’ hahaha Funny that… How can you hate your own club? Guess with a club like Leeds its understandable
Piss off you sheep shagging fake cunt
Sussed and flushed down the shit drain you Munich chanting hateful fuck…… Go find yourself a nice furry one
Ha. Phil from Prestwich!! THE most negative man I have ever heard. Only comes on the phone in after a loss.
Cedars – Moses cant be a Leeds fan mate, unless he pays for MUTV. Otherwise he would never have heard of Phil from Prestwich.
King Eric
Trust me he is, I do not know how to dig out old posts, as for the MUTV thing, probably picked it at someone’s house
Said so himself once, also wished the boss would just die already…..Just like that other fuck who said the same thing (Cannot remember his nick, probably one and the same)
Cedars
‘That other fuck’ would be Bill Bob or as our resident stat man Costas would call him, Bill Knob….stupid idiot pretending to be a United fan and wishing death on our God Incarnate
Red Devil
Hi buddy, there was also another poster, weird sort of nick that wished the same as well…. I am sure some may remember him, I cannot!
Think that other sick fuck used the name of Yipyap or Yipstam….. Not accurate but sounds like that…
Yeah there was another guy by the name of Yip Yap Stam but I dont remember him slagging of Sir Alex tbh
Anyways…lets just forget the diseased minds, whoever they are — its their hate which makes us stronger
Anyways…lets just forget the diseased minds, whoever they are — its their hate which makes us stronger
Red Devil
I am sure he did, my health may not be in check but my memory is…. wishing it would happen in the dug out were some of the ugly words used….. Like you say though my friend, their hate will only make us stronger….. Fuck em
Aah. You will be right then Cedars. Didnt realise he has posted shite like that. Yeah that other cunt was YipYap who acted the United fan then went on to say he hoped Fergie dies on the touchline. Some banter is fine but that cunt was way beyond the pale. Talking of cunts aint seen Captaincunt9 or RedMegleeker for a while.
King Eric
This place is much much better off without those Leeds supporting sick fucks who just love to sing hate against the dead and wish it for those alive.
Fucking scum of the earth they are
Shitty rivals?. not until they consistently win something of value like the scouse of past. hate them yes but thats due to genuine historical rivalry based in no small part ot the considerable success the scouse once had. Wastelands are mere wealthy pretenders. Dont like Tevez but a part of me thinks shitty deserve his contempt. Would the bess allow it, I think not.
apologies for the typos