Manchester United vs. Swansea City: 9 Bold Predictions as Red Devils Host Swans

Hey, Red Devils—it's time for some serious rebounding.

With two matches to go, Manchester United are tied with Manchester City for the lead in the league table. Only problem is, the Blues have a slight edge in goal differential—that is, if you'd call eight goals "slight."

But with Manchester City having to take on a Newcastle United side looking to finish in the top four and a Queens Park Rangers side scratching and clawing to stay out of relegation, it's conceivable the Blues could stumble.

Manchester United, on the other hand, has Swansea City and Sunderland—sides that the Red Devils can definitely dominate.

Swansea City is the first opponent. At 12th, they're the highest in the league table and are the most technically sound side of any of the three newly-promoted squads. Brendan Rogers has done an incredible job as caretaker manager and should become Swans' new manager next season.

Will the Red Devils take care of business against Swans at Old Trafford? Will they gain any ground on their goal differential?

Join me as I answer all these questions and more in my boldest predictions for when Manchester United hosts Swansea City.

Chicharito Will Regain His Starting Spot at Forward

Javier Hernandez has played all of two Premier League minutes since April 12th—hardly what you'd call regular playing time.

And it's pretty obvious that Wayne Rooney has a new attacking partner, and his name ain't Chicharito.

But with Danny Welbeck out due to injury, look for Hernandez to (unfortunately) get another shot at the top of the formation with Rooney.

...and Be Subbed Out Before the 60th Minute

With just two league goals since February 6th (both against Wolverhampton, mind you) I predict that Sir Alex Ferguson will look elsewhere when Hernandez comes up dry in the first 60 minutes of the Swansea City match.

The Red Devils need goals and lots of 'em. They're currently eight down in goal differential to Manchester City and have just two matches to make up the difference.

So who's coming in off the bench?

Dimitar Berbatov Will Earn Some Time on the Pitch

As I said before, Chicharito's not the answer as Rooney's partner—Danny Welbeck is. Hernandez showed this season he's not up to facing Premier League competition. He never was, and he never will be.

Ferguson will need to repent of his conservative ways, but the divisive Bulgarian will be his only draw from the shallow well of forwards.

Someone's got to be scoring the goals. Who'll it be?

Antonio Valencia Will Get His Groove Back

Antonio Valencia is earning more and more playing time through his physical play, athleticism and understanding about the game. He was left out of most of the Manchester City match but rode a good streak in the first few months after the January transfer window closed.

From January 31st to April 2nd, Valencia scored two goals and assisted on three others.

Since then he's done little, but he's an absolute asset in the midfield and he'll put the game out of reach and end his current dry spell.

...With Two Goals!

Bold articles call for bold predictions, right?

How about this, Red Devils fans: Valencia gets his first multi-goal game of the season. He almost did it against Wolverhampton, and I think he can do it against lowly Swansea City.

Wayne Rooney Will Be Left Scoreless

Rooney has been in excellent form in recent weeks, scoring five goals in as many league matches, so saying he'll be ineffective against Swansea City could be an incredibly bad omen.

(As a favor to all you Red Devils fans, I'll be right back after I find some wood to knock on.)

Okay, back. In matches where the Red Devils dominate opponents, Rooney isn't netting all his team's goals anymore. He has settled into a very balanced role where he assists on goals just as often as he scores them.

In United's 5-0 win over Wolves, he assisted Antonio Valencia's score with an incredible pinpoint pass. In their 3-0 win over Bolton, he gave Paul Scholes a perfect ball for the opening goal of the match. In the club's 2-0 win over Norwich City, he headed Oliveira Anderson a beautiful ball off a corner.

He does score, however, getting two in a recent 4-0 rout of Aston Villa. He got another two in what looked like it was going to be a dominating day against Everton but turned out to be a deflating 4-4 draw.

David De Gea Will Collect His 12th Clean Sheet

Remember when Manchester United traveled to Swansea City earlier in the season? De Gea saw one shot on goal in all 90 minutes and easily collected a clean sheet.

Now with the match at Old Trafford, I predict that things are going to go swimmingly for the 21-year-old goalkeeping phenom as he blanks an opponent for the 12th time this season.

Red Devils Will Win 3-0

Will Manchester United get something out of Sunday's match against Swansea City? No doubt.

The Swans are the best of the newly-promoted teams, but the Red Devils won't drop the game.

Will it be three points? Absolutely.

Everton has dropped 10 matches away from Liberty Stadium—third-worst in the league

Will the final result be as dominating as 3-0, increasing United's goal differential to 56? That's my bold prediction.

Manchester City Loses to Newcastle United (Bonus!)

With both Manchester clubs tied for the league lead and only goal differential separating them, these next two matches are pivotal.

Whereas the Red Devils have Swansea City this weekend, the Blues are taking on a Newcastle United club that looked very, very good against Chelsea.

My prediction for when Manchester City travels to Tyne and Wear? They lose.

(Sure, I could say it'll be a draw, but these are bold predictions, right?)

As opposed to when they first met in November, Newcastle United is playing top-flight football—looking to secure fourth place and their first trip to the Champions League since 2002.

Papiss Cisse is playing out-of-this-world quality football, and except for an absolute blunder against Wigan Athletic, goalkeeper Tim Krul has only had clean sheets since March 26th.

These are my predictions for what will happen when Manchester United hosts Swansea City. Comment, and add your own!