Venue: Old Trafford
Date: Saturday, 1 November Kick-off: 1500 GMT

Man Utd are only going one place and that’s up. Ronaldo is back on the score sheet and Dimitar Berbatov is nearing his top form. After soundly beating West Ham 2-0 in midweek, United now host newly promoted side Hull City. The game would have seemed easy on paper at the start of the season but Hull have been 3rd best rather than 3rd worst.

Man Utd Probable line up (4-4-2)

Van der Sar

Neville – Ferdinand – Vidic – Evra

Ronaldo – Carrick – Giggs – Park

Rooney – Tevez

Hull Probable Line Up (4-3-1-2)

Myhill

McShane – Turner – Zayatte – Dawson

Boateng – Mendy – Marney

Geovanni

King – Cousin

Man Utd Tactics: United will play the usual, attacking in great numbers with the wingers and strikers regularly switching positions to break down the Tigers’ defence. It’s rare for a visiting side to play 4-4-2 against the champions and come away with a result, United could blow Phil Brown’s side apart.

Hull Tactics: An organised side who play with great determination and belief, Phil Brown’s side will throw everything at United. Dangerman Geovanni is likely to sit just behind Daniel Cousin and Marlon King to make up the Tigers strike force.

Prediction: 3-0

“There are a lot of teams out there who would like to have 20 points from 10 games, excluding the top four.

“We’ve got to learn from the Chelsea defeat on Wednesday night and go to Old Trafford. I’ve said to the players that if anybody doesn’t fancy getting something on Saturday, don’t bother coming.” Hull boss Phil Brown:

Team	Manchester United	Hull City
Games Played	9	10
Goal Attempts
Goals	15	14
Ave Goals per game	1.67	1.40
Shots (excl blocked shots)	115	88
% Shots on Target	50%	50%
% Goals to Shots	13%	16%
Passing
Short Passes	3,985	2,428
Long Passes	532	626
Overall Pass Completion %	83%	71%
Crossing
Total Crosses	276	200
Cross Completion %	29%	26%
Defending
Goals Conceded	5	14
Ave goals conceded per game	0.56	1.40
Tackles	174	238
Tackles Won %	70%	75%
Blocks, Clearances & Interceptions	529	677
Discipline
Fouls	122	141
Yellow Cards	19	14
Red Cards	1	0

Welcome to the first ever Man Utd 24 Quiz! See how much answers you can get correct. Answers are at the bottom.

1. Only two players have ever scored six goals in one game for United, one of them was Harold Halse back in 1911. Who was the other one scored by?

a) George Best
b) Andy Cole
c) Jack Rowley

2.  Where was the last ground Man Utd failed to score a goal in the Premiership?

a) Ewood Park
b) Stamford Bridge
c) Reebok Stadium

3. Who did Man Utd lose 1-0 against in the 1999 Uefa Super Cup?

a) Lazio
b) Bayern Munich
c) AS Monaco

4. Here is an difficult one , Park Ji Sung was signed from which club?

a) Gwangju Sangmu Phoenix
b) FC Seoul
c) PSV

5. Sir Bobby Charlton has made how many appearances altogether for United?

a) 658
b) 758
c) 858

6. Who was United’s manager before Sir Alex Ferguson?

a) Ron Atkinson
b) Dave Sexton
c) Tommy Docherty

7. What club did David Beckham go on loan to during his time at Manchester United?

a) Preston North End
b) Oldham Athletic
c) Oxford United

8. How much hat-tricks has Rooney scored for United so far?

a) 1
b) 2
c) 3

9. Against what club did Cristiano Ronaldo make his league debut for United?

a) West Ham United
b) Bolton Wanderers
c) Everton

10. Manchester United’s flop signing for Brazilian Kleberson was signed from Atlético Paranaense but for how much?

a) £6.5m
b) £3m
c) £10m

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ANSWERS: 1.A, 2.B, 3.A, 4.C, 5.B, 6.A, 7.A, 8.B, 9.B, 10.A

Man Utd 2-0 West Ham

Cristiano Ronaldo’s brace gave Manchester United victory over a poor West Ham at Old Trafford.

United  lead in the 13th minute after the superb Nani cut the ball back for Ronaldo to slot into the corner. Berbatov superb individual skill then set up Ronaldo to tap in the second. Rooney, in the second half was outstanding but could not get another goal as United pressed on.

West Ham were lacking ideas and their best chance  was from Boa Morte but his shot was saved by keeper Tomasz Kuszczak.

United started the game without Van der Sar and another surpise selection for Rafael. Tevez partnered Berbatov for only the second time this season but neither could get a goal but still went close.

Man of the Match: Dimitar Berbatov- Huge influence on the game and his sublime skill set up the second. His was a threat from the first minute and was unlucky not to score

Venue: Old Trafford    Date: Wednesday, 29 October    Kick-off: 2000 GMT

Dimitar Berbatov and Cristiano Ronaldo are likely to be rested for United’s game against West Ham with Tevez and Park likely to replace the two. Michael Carrick is fit again and could play against his former club today. The Hammers are without Carlton Cole, who is suspended and Mark Noble is out with a calf injury.

Probable Teams:

Man Utd (4-4-2)

Van der Sar

Brown – Ferdinand – Vidic – Evra

Park – Carrick – Fletcher – Nani

Rooney – Tevez

West Ham: (4-5-1)

Green

Faubert – Collins -  Upson – Ilunga

Di Michele – Mullins – Parker – Bowyer – Etherington

Bellamy

Man Utd Tactics: The home side will try to attack in numbers as Zola’s side are expected to defend throughout the game. The wingers will have a lot of the ball with United probably attacking down the flanks even without Ronaldo.

West Ham Tactics: The Hammers will have most men behind the ball trying to frustrate the champions. West Ham did not concede against Arsenal until the 75th minute meaning Zola might continue to stick with the same formation to frustate United.

Prediction – 3-0: Carlos Tevez will try to prove his first team place and with the in-form Rooney with him, United will be too strong for the Hammers.

Agree with the predictions or Teams? Please Comments your thoughts.

Sir Alex blames Wiley, Ronaldo’s body language and the value of Tevez

1. It was disappointing to see Sir Alex focus on criticising the referee instead of criticising his team as well after the draw to Everton. However he did give credit to Everton who were just below the border of over-aggressiveness, taking the game to United and making it hard for them to play. Rooney and Berbatov went missing and Ronaldo is still to make the impact he made last season. Sir Alex said:

“The referee was to blame, and the crowd was egging him on and there was every chance he may have been sent off, and not for anything he did in the game. You get a booking for nothing and then you wonder what the referee is going to do next. Cristiano Ronaldo had a chance near the end if he could have dug it out of his feet, but we didn’t deserve anything because at that point it was a hanging-on job.”

2. Cristiano Ronaldo has won the FifPro award and is likely to make a clean sweep by winning all three of the Ballon d’Or, European Footballer of the Year (voted on by journalists) and the Fifa World Player of the Year (chosen by national team coaches). Much has been made of the Portuguese wingers body language but the reality seems that not that he is unhappy but frustration; because he is not hitting the heights of last season.

Regarding the Ballon d’Or; how could they not shortlist Rio Ferdinand? Did they not see who was skippering the side not to mention his performances?

3. As if Sir Alex Ferguson needed a reason to splash out £30m for Tevez, he got the answer on Saturday. Okay Tevez didn’t have enough time to make an impact but having three world class strikers at your disposal on a match day is not a bad thing. The Argentinine’s services would have been much needed in a gritty match and his hard work is priceless. The gap between class players and world class players is small but the values high so Fergie would do well if he signed Tevez permanently.

4. Liverpool are top of the table after a well deserved win against Chelsea but it is the nature of their performances this season which has caught the eye. They play 4-4-2 against ‘weaker’ clubs and they have more trouble beating them. Against the ‘bigger’ clubs they revert to 4-5-1 and grind their way to a win. This leads me to believe points are more likely to be dropped against such teams as Wigan or Hull.

Everton 1-1 Man Utd

Marouane Fellaini’s header gave Everton a well earned draw as he equalised from an early Darren Fletcher goal.

Fellaini scored his second for the club as Everton piled constant pressure on the champions. He headed home after Phil Neville’s cross.

After a first half dominated by the United they finally got their reward as the ever so influential Ryan Giggs set up Darren Fletcher.

Darren Fletcher took one great touch from Ryan Giggs pass away from Everton defender Joleon Lescott and comfortably struck it through Tim Howard’s legs. United could have had more in the first half but Howard pulled off some fantastic saves from Ryan Giggs, Ronaldo and even denied an Lois Saha own goal.

In the second half, though, Everton approached the second half brilliantly with a number of chances before Felliani’s goal and Yakubu nearly made it two but Van der Sar made a good save which then hit the post. It was a Ferdinand mistake, just one of many from ‘Mr. Constitency’. Ronaldo had a glorius chance late on but hit it wide.

Before the game, Everton played a surprising 4-4-2 formation with former United player Saha partnering Yakubu up front. United opted for fit again Ferdinand and Evra with Rooney looking for his 100th career goal at the Goodison where he scored his first ever as a young teenager.

Man Utd