Manchester United v. Birmingham Preview

Manchester United

Defending Premier League champions Manchester United come into the 2009-10 season having lost the Community Shield to Chelsea in a penalty shoot-out.

Prior to this, Man Utd won six of their pre-season matches and lost only one, this time against Bayern Munich in the final of the Audi Cup, again in a penalty shoot-out.

With the biggest news of the summer transfer window being Manchester United's £80 million sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid, the Red Devils have so far made two big signings in winger Antonio Valencia from Wigan and striker Michael Owen from Newcastle.

Man Utd have a lengthy injury list to start their season, with Edwin van der Sar, Nani, Rafael, Nemanja Vidic, Wes Brown, Johnny Evans, Gary Neville and Owen Hargreaves all suffering from various afflictions.

Birmingham

Newly promoted Birmingham City return to the Premier League, having made a number of key signings, including Ecuador striker Christian Benitez (Santos Laguna), defender Giovanny Espinoza (Barcelona Sporting Club), defender Roger Johnson (Cardiff), midfielder Barry Ferguson (Rangers), midfielder Lee Bowyer (West Ham) as well as England Under-21 goalkeeper Joe Hart (Manchester City) on loan.

Birmingham too have a number of injury concerns, with Liam Ridgewell, Marcus Bent, and Martin Taylor all set to miss the match.

Prediction

With Birmingham being relegated at the end of the 2007-08 season, the two sides did not meet last season. However, both Man Utd vs Birmingham fixtures in 2007 and 2008 ended in Manchested United running out 1-0 winners.

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish may have wanted an easier start to the season than to have to face Sir Alex Ferguson's men at Old Trafford, but a good result for Birmingham here may be just what the Blues need in order to commence a strong campaign this season.

However, with or without Cristiano Ronaldo, the Red Devils look more than capable of posting a comfortable victory in their opening match of this 2009-10 Premier League season.

Man Utd vs Birmingham Prediction: Man Utd 2  Birmingham 0

Read the complete Manchester United vs Birmingham preview with the best odds and markets for the match at the Sports Betting Review website.

Also read our previews for the Everton vs Arsenal and Spurs vs Liverpool matches as well.