Alex Ferguson has this morning confirmed a number of players that will see action in Sunday’s encounter with Blackpool. The United boss countered claims that he will be fielding a second-string starting XI by using today’s press conference to list those who will play their part…
“On Sunday we’ll do our fairest to make sure there’s no criticism of the club. There are players who need a game anyway. Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes and Anderson will all play. Berbatov, Evra, van der Sar as well. They’ll all play – that’s certain.”
The news offers Fantasy Managers reassurance of a start for Berbatov – a factor that will surely boost further acquisitions of the Bulgarian striker over the next 48-hours. Berbatov would seem likely to line up in attack, perhaps with Michael Owen, although with Anderson also confirmed as a starter, he could be pushed forward in support of the attack in a 4-5-1 with Fletcher and Scholes patrolling in front of the back four. All three midfielders will now come into the mix for final day Fantasy transfers.
A 4-3-3 is also a distinct possibility – that would bring Owen and perhaps even Nani into the equation – although with Ferguson failing to name Nani today, there is clearly some doubt over his prospects of earning a start. Similarly, with no mention of Wayne Rooney, he looks set to miss out, despite his eagerness to play a part against the seasiders…
“It’s down to the manager to pick what team he wants to play in the two matches…But I’m sure all the players want to play. You play football to play in these games and I hope I can play on Sunday. You want to keep ticking over.”
The selection of Patrice Evra is significant – he sat on the bench at Blackburn with a knock and is clearly being given pitch-time on Sunday to prove his fitness ahead of the Champions League final. His inclusion now casts doubt on United’s back four selection. While Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans look favourites to start in the centre, the right-back role appears to be up for grabs. Fabio, Rafael and John O’Shea would appear to be in the reckoning, although both O’Shea and Rafael are themselves recovering from recent injuries and may well miss out.
