Friday, May 13, 2011

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14.05. (Sat) 13:45 Blackburn Rovers - Manchester United



DID YOU KNOW?

*Blackburn Rovers have not beaten Sir Alex Ferguson's men in their last nine meetings in the Premier League. The last time these two teams met in the league was at Old Trafford, when Rovers were handed out a 7-1 hammering.

* Steve Kean's men have won only one of their last 12 games in the league, and are currently three points above 18th-placed Blackpool.

* Apart from Wigan Athletic and Birmingham City (both 19), Blackburn have scored the lowest number of goals at home this season - having hit the net only 21 times at Ewood Park.

* If all matches ended at half-time, Rovers would have now been in sixth position, fighting for a Europa League spot with Liverpool.

* Dimitar Berbatov scored five goals in the 7-1 victory earlier in the season. He has scored a total of six goals in five matches against Rovers.

* The Red Devils have scored 73 goals through the course of their league campaign. This is the most by any club in the top-flight this season.

* United have been poor on their travels of late, winning one and losing three of their last five games on the road. In total, they have lost only four matches, all of which were away from home.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Blacbburn Rovers (4-5-1)
Robinson; Emerton, Samba, Givet, Olsson; Diouf, J Jones, N'Zonzi, P Jones, Hoilett; Roberts.

Phil Jones missed the 1-1 draw with West Ham United due to a back injury, and could feature despite remaining a doubt for this game. Along with the youngster, full-back Michel Salgado is also expected to return to the fold.

There are also doubts concerning the fitness of David Dunn (calf) and Nikola Kalinic, who has been recovering from illness.

Manchester United (4-4-2)
Van der Sar; Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Park, Fletcher, Carrick, Giggs; Rooney, Berbatov.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is likely field a strong line-up to make sure his side are not still fighting for the title come the final day of the season.

Rafael and Darren Fletcher both came through a game with the reserves, and could be expected to get some playing time under their belt prior to the Champions League final at the end of the month.

Owen Hargreaves (hamstring) and Anders Lindegaard (knee) remain sidelined.

Prediction
Blackburn have trouble scoring while United have been in poor form on their travels. But at the same time, form counts for nothing when one team is battling for survival while the other is itching to win the title.

But even an inspired Rovers side may not be enough to stop the Manchester United machine in its tracks, on a day that should see them make history by finally overtaking Liverpool in the number of league titles won (19).

Blackburn 0-2 Man Utd.