Manchester United Must Keep Pace This Weekend

After a midweek set of fixtures that yielded few surprises, Manchester United were able to dispose of West Ham at Old Trafford for the second straight season with a brace from Cristiano Ronaldo before half an hour had gone. Sir Alex Ferguson was pleased with the three points, but the second mediocre second half performance in the league left him with a bad taste in his mouth. His feelings were definitely justified. United controlled the lions-share of possession the entire game, but seems content to knock the ball around in midfield in the second half, that led to two golden chances for the Hammers to take, but luckily for United, didn't. As EPL surprise Hull City come to Old Trafford in the first time in 21 years, United will look to claim all three points, which are essential if United are to stay in the title chase.

Hull has had to run the gauntlent in these two fixtures. Facing Chelsea at home on mid-week which resulted into a clinical 3-0 Chelsea win, and now traveling to Old Trafford to face the Champions would cause most newly promoted teams to panic. Not Hull though, they have risen to the challenge on multiple occasions this year, most notably with a win over Arsenal at The Emirates. In what looks to be a promotion season that will rival Reading's premier league job two years ago in which they finished just out of contention for European play, Hull will be up against it in Manchester on Saturday.

Sir Alex had nothing bad to say about the squad in his weekly pre-match press conference today, describing Hull as "amazing" and noting that typically newly promoted teams rely heavily on buying new talent and getting loan deals to stay up, and as SAF notes, "Hull have gone in a completely different direction."

Michael Carrick is fit to be in the starting lineup, after he was subbed on in the second half of the tie against West Ham on Wednesday. Edwin Van Der Sar should also get the start after being held out of the tie with the Hammers. Ferguson notes that he wants to get Tomasz Kuszczak and Ben Foster rotated into first team duty-which may signal to some that this may be Edwin's last year of professional football.

Wes Brown is said to be fit for United's Champions League tie versus Celtic in Glasgow next Wednesday. That makes it possible for Gary Neville to take his place or Brazilian teenager Rafael to get his second straight start for the club. Rooney saw a small amount of playing time on Wednesday as he was not favored to Carlos Tevez in the starting lineup. I would suspect to see him start against Hull.

This weekends implications for big table moves are minimal. Chelsea are at home to Roy Keane's Sunderland side who must be reeling from a loss to bottom feeders Stoke City on mid-week. Harry Redknapp has already started to work his magic at Tottenham, his team came back to get a point from Arsenal at the Emirates. They have to face Liverpool this weekend, if he could pull another rabbit out of the hat, the title race could get much more interesting should the remaining 3 of the big four claim victory this weekend. Arsenal travel to Stoke, and face an absolute must win match.

Man United will do well to get the three points. With Ronaldo inching towards full fitness, and with Tevez, Rooney, and Berbatov already there and in great form, there should be plenty of goals flying in at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Prediction: 4-0