Weekend Outlook (26 Aug 2006)

Watford vs Manchester United

"...As heartless as the media may make him (Alex Ferguson) out to be, he has also proven to be a faithful and loyal gaffer who stood by Cantona, Ferdinand and Solksjaer...."

- JayWalk, 26 Aug 2006

ManUtd has gotten off to a delightful start and the moans of losing van Nistelrooy, just a mere fortnight ago, seemed like a distant memory. This is where Fergie stamps his class of which I am in awe. He doesn't take any bullshit from anybody, be it a superstar or otherwise. For those who have been around since Fergie took over from Ron Atkinson, we saw him kicking out McGrath, Whiteside, Ince, Kanchelski, Stam, Beckham and van Nistelrooy along the way. As heartless as the media may make him out to be, he has also proven to be a faithful and loyal gaffer who stood by Cantona, Ferdinand and Solksjaer.

Their opponent this weekend is none other than Watford and it brought me memories of the old Division 1 days where John Barnes terrorised the midfield and Luther Blisset top the scoring board. Did you know that Elton John was once a chairman of this football club? Well, he was until 2002 when he stepped down to make way for someone else who was able to devote more time into the actual running of the club, rather than some honorary figurehead.

The good news for Watford is that they are the strongest of the 3 newly promoted clubs and as such stands the strongest chance of survival. The bad news is that they still don't stand a chance of survival against ManUtd today.

JayWalk The Talk: Rooney and Scholes will be serving their 2nd of 3-match suspension and it seemed that the team are operating surprisingly well without them. Luck of the fixture would also have to be factored in here as the 3 matches were against relatively easier teams with the exception of Tottenham Hotspur next week.

Saha will be operating up front with Giggs supporting slightly behind. Park and C.Ronaldo will be running the flanks leaving Fletcher in the middle and perhaps an opening there for the Carrick's premiership debut? Vidic, Neville and Heinze are still on the injury list means that Brown and Ferdinand will again hold down the fort for the Red Devils.

On the Watford side, Ben Foster will not be starting today as the goalie was a loan from ManUtd and there was a rule in place that prevents Foster from playing against his parent club. That means that Watford will have to make do with second-string goalie Richard Lee to stand between the sticks. I can forsee quite a number of balls passing him today.

JayWalk The Walk: With Chelsea sputtering at the start, what better way to go into this weekend than to have ManUtd going 3-for-3 today. Expect the visitors to take The Hornets apart at Vicarage Road. It would be Watford's greatest mistake if they think of aiming for a draw by playing all-defensive. Judging from the percentages of long balls from Watford's past 2 games, it looks very likely that Watford will be sticking to the same formula.

The last 3 games that ManUtd played Watford was between October 1999 and October 2000 from which ManUtd won all three (4-1, 3-2, 3-0).

It may be as far back as 6 years ago but I think history will repeat itself with ManUtd continue to pile up on the score tally.

Despite playing away today, bookies give ManUtd a -1¼ ball handicap with a decimal odds of 1.9 to overcome it. I predict a 3-0 whitewash and so take ManUtd to give the handicap.

Disclaimer: The above views are purely my own two-cents' worth. In other words, I cannot and will not guarantee that my predictions are accurate. If you want to bet on the game, do so at your own risk. Also, please bet responsibly and within your means regardless of how "sure thing" that game may appear to be. As the old saying goes, "The Ball Is Round". Good luck.