Norwich v Man United - Sat 9th April

---------------------- Howard -------------------
-- G.Neville --- Ferdinand --- Silvestre --- Heinze --
---------------------- Fortune -------------------
-------------- Scholes ------- Kleberson ----------
-- Smith ----------------------------- Rooney --
---------------------- Saha ----------------------
 
Man Utd (from): Howard, Carroll, G Neville, P Neville, Brown, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Heinze, O'Shea, Fortune, Ronaldo, Keane, Scholes, van Nistelrooy, Rooney, Saha, Smith, Kleberson, Bellion.

---------------------- Howard -------------------
-- G.Neville --- Ferdinand --- Silvestre --- Heinze --
---------------------- P.Neville -------------------
---------------- Smith ------- Scholes ----------
-- Ronaldo ------------------------------ Rooney --
------------------ van Nistelrooy ----------------------

bench: Carroll, Saha, Kleberson, Fortune, Brown
 
----------------------Howard-------------------------

--Gary-----------Rio----------heinze----------Tweety-

-----------------------Keano------------------------

------------------Scholes-----Kleberson----------------

---------Ronaldo--------------------------Rooney------

------------------------Ruud--------------------------
 
Norwich v Man Utd: Key battles

MANCHESTER United travel to Norwich determined to earn three points and maintain their push for second place in the Premiership.

A goaless draw against Blackburn last week let Arsenal sneak ahead on goal difference, and the last thing Sir Alex Ferguson wants is an exhausting European qualifying campaign next time around.

Here is a look at the key clashes that could decide Saturday's game.

Robert Green v Ruud van Nistelrooy

Although Norwich have conceded more goals in the league - 63 - than any other team, not much of the blame can be laid at the door of Green who has been one of the mainstays this season for boss Nigel Worthington. You have to go back to October 16 and 25 matches for the Canaries' last clean sheet, so you would expect van Nistelrooy to exploit such generosity. But with manager Sir Alex Ferguson conceding he rushed the Dutchman back too soon after a long-term injury, he is still searching for his first goal after a seven-game scoreless run at club level.

Damien Francis v Roy Keane

A contrast in styles. Francis is tall and rangy, but has pace and his late, darting runs into the penalty area have brought him seven goals. He has proved to be a talisman with City unbeaten in five of the six games in which he has scored. But he will be given little room for error against a no-nonsense Keane who has rediscovered his appetite for the game this season, producing typically robust, hard-working displays.

Dean Ashton v Rio Ferdinand

Ashton has found the transition from being a free-scoring forward at Championship side Crewe to a striker with Norwich who barely gets a sniff of goal difficult to cope with, scoring just twice in nine appearances since a club record £3million move. But at 21, he has time, youth, pace and strength on his side. He will need to draw on all those assets if he is to forage his way past a player who has cemented his place at the heart of the defence for both United and England thanks to an unerring knack of being able to read a game.
 
Preview: Norwich v Manchester United

RYAN Giggs will miss Manchester United's trip to Norwich after suffering a hamstring strain.

The Welsh winger picked up the injury just six minutes into last Saturday's draw with Blackburn, and the Reds are now racing to get him fit for the FA Cup semi-final against Newcastle in Cardiff.

Darren Fletcher will also sit the game out as he recovers from a knee injury sustained in the derby against City.

Sir Alex Ferguson must decide whether to stick with misfiring striker Ruud van Nistelrooy or go with Alan Smith. Louis Saha could also feature after returning from a knee injury.

Van Nistelrooy is yet to score for United since his return in February, and his place is under threat.

Skipper Roy Keane may not be risked as a booking at Carrow Road will rule him out of next week’s FA Cup semi-final.

Meanwhile Nigel Worthington is set to make several changes to his Barclays Premiership basement club.

With no fresh injury concerns, and following a run of five straight defeats, Denmark captain Thomas Helveg is set to come in at right-back for Marc Edworthy and Moroccan Youssef Safri into midfield for Gary Holt.

On-loan Arsenal midfielder David Bentley is fit following some 10 weeks out with a knee injury and is expected to be included in the squad.

Darren Huckerby (calf), Mattias Jonson (virus) and Simon Charlton (shin) have all trained this week and will be in contention.

Norwich (from): Green, Helveg, Fleming, Shackell, Drury, Stuart, Safri, Francis, Huckerby, Ashton, McKenzie, Bentley, Jonson, Edworthy, Charlton, Holt, Henderson, Doherty, McVeigh, Ward.

Manchester United (from): Howard, Carroll, G Neville, P Neville, Brown, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Heinze, O’Shea, Fortune, Ronaldo, Keane, Scholes, van Nistelrooy, Rooney, Saha, Smith, Kleberson, Bellion.

Norwich v United - the stats

Latest form

Norwich: L L L L L

United: W W D W D

Head to head

Aug 21, United 2 Norwich 1

Top scorers

Norwich: Francis 7, Huckerby 6, McKenzie 4

United: Rooney 9 Scholes 8

Referee

Howard Webb: His first United game recently in FA Cup at Southampton passed without incident.

Key opponent

Darren Huckerby: Ex-City winger can always cause a few headaches.

Prediction

Norwich 0 United 2
 
Keane should sit out this match as it isn't worth risking a 2-match ban if he get booked, surely we can beat norwich without him. :nervous:
 
I would play the following....

..........................Howard......................

...G.Neville.....Rio....Silvestre...Heinze..........

................Fortune...........

...............Kleberson...............

...Ronaldo..................Rooney........
................Saha............

We really do owe them a good 4 or 5. 2-1 at Old Trafford is not good enough, all the other big teams have thrashed them, and so should we.
 
btw - this match will be shown live on FSC at 12pm EST
 
kanchelskis14 said:
I would play the following....

..........................Howard......................

...G.Neville.....Rio....Silvestre...Heinze..........

................Fortune...........

...............Kleberson...............

...Ronaldo..................Rooney........
................Saha............

We really do owe them a good 4 or 5. 2-1 at Old Trafford is not good enough, all the other big teams have thrashed them, and so should we.
Click to expand...

We will be overrun with 10 men ! We are good but not that good, especially with a fairy in midfield ! ;)
 
atomic keane said:
We will be overrun with 10 men ! We are good but not that good, especially with a fairy in midfield ! ;)
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no, we should play with only 10 men, to rest the others!!! :p
 
smithy has to play. i would like to see an attacking lineup. if fletch is available, he should also play in my opinion for keano to spare any possible booking and ban. if the game is going well, bring ruud on and hopefully he could net a couple/
 
Both Giggsy and Keano should be left out considering next weeks semifinal.

Carroll

Gaz Rio Heinze Mickey


Smith Scholes Kleberson Ronaldo

Saha Rooney

Subs: Rvn ( coming on at ht)
O`Shea
Rossi
P Nev
Howard
 
Anyone have a confirmed lineup?
 
Howard, G.Neville, Rio, Silvestre, Heinze, P.Neville, Fortune, Smith, Scholes, Kleberson, Saha!
 
Chel$ki down 0:1 against Brum! Game on again?
 
Team Today from MUTV:

Howard
Heinze
Silvestre
Ferdinand
G Neville
Scholes
P Neville
Kleberson
Smith
Fortune
Saha

Bench:

Carroll
JOS
RVN
Ronaldo
Rooney
 
VanNistelrater said:
Bloody hell...Whats that for, Fergie? We havent even got a midweek game!

Bench?
Click to expand...

Wot no rooney??,ronaldo, wots fergie playing at with that midfield??
 
I think it's going to look something like this:

---------------------- Howard -------------------
-- G.Neville --- Ferdinand --- Silvestre --- Heinze --
---------------------- P.Neville -------------------
-------------- Kleberson ------- Scholes ----------
-- Smith ------------------------------ Fortune --
----------------------- Saha ---------------------

or we might even play with two upfront :)
 
jesus red15 u gotta be kidding me..no rvn, rooney, or ronaldo? we do need to win this match for 2nd place unless we are content being 3rd best. feckin-a.
 
what a line-up, 2 defensive midfielders against such a poor team!!! wes and keano not even on the bench. i hope we play smith and saha as strikers. could be one of klebs last chance to impress, hopefully he does well
 
Michel04 said:
what a line-up, 2 defensive midfielders against such a poor team!!! wes and keano not even on the bench. i hope we play smith and saha as strikers. could be one of klebs last chance to impress, hopefully he does well
Click to expand...

The way MUTV shows the line-up, Smith is on the right. And as even Paddy's pointed out today, Smith is not a right winger. :(
 
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