Manchester United will try to hang onto their share of first place in the English Premier League with cross-town rivals Manchester City when they host Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford on New Year’s Eve. United and City each have a league-leading 45 points with City sitting in top place because of their +38 goal difference compared to United’s + 33.
Blackburn on the other hand sit dead last in the table with just 11 points from a possible 54 after 18 games. However, they managed a 1-1 draw against Liverpool in their last game while United laid a 5-0 beating on Wigan. Funnily enough, United has been playing well and scoring goals galore with more players missing lately due to injuries. They have two 5-0 wins and a 4-0 victory in recent games even though players such as Ashley Young, Nemanja Vidic, Chris Smalling, Fabio, Anderson, Tom Cleverly, Michael Owen, Darren Fletcher, Phil Jones, Javier Hernandez.
Hernandez is back in the lineup now and Dimitar Berbatov has been leading the way while he was out with a hat trick against Wigan. Wayne Rooney is still scoring his share of goals as well. However, Jonny Evans is now on the injured list while Rio Ferdinand is never off of it.
Things are pretty unstable in Blackburn and the fans have turned on manager Steve Kean as they want him replaced as soon as possible and who can blame them? Unless the club improves drastically over the next few months they’re bound to be relegated at the end of the season. There’s no point hanging onto Kean while they dig themselves a hole they can’t get out of. The team has some decent talent with Paul Robinson in goal along with skipper Chris Samba, and Yakubu, who has 11 goals in total this season. However, Robinson missed the game against Liverpool and it’s unclear who’ll be in net against United. They could also be without Steinsson, Alonso, Riley, Gardner, Mears, Lee, Holden, and Davis
The last time these two teams met it ended in a 1-1 draw in Blackburn back in May. In fact, two of their last five meetings have been draws while United won the other three games by scores of 7-1, 2-0, and 2-1. United has four wins and a loss in their last five games overall while Blackburn has three losses, a draw and a win.
Man Utd vs Blackburn Betting Predictions
Things look like they’re going to get worse before they get better with this trip to Old Trafford to face the league’s hottest club. Even when United aren’t in top form they seem to be able to grind out wins, especially at home. They should be able to take all three points against Blackburn by beating them from anywhere between two and four goals.
Sportsbook William Hill has the current odds of a Manchester United win at 1/8and a Blackburn victory at 18/1 with a draw at 7/1. Click the banner at the top to get a free bet.