Weekend Outlook (05 Apr 2008)

Middlesbrough vs Manchester United

"...As weaker as Boro is, they have do have a knack to be one of ManUtd's perennial bogey teams...."

- JayWalk, 05 Apr 2008

Just we were biting nails fearing the worst on our travels to Rome, we went ahead and strolled to an 2-0 away win.

I think my heart cannot take it liao. All the roller coaster ride is going to kill me one of these days. Dammit!

We evenly matched them in every aspect but I do notice that when we come up against tough opponents, we are always at the shorter end of the possession statistic, regardless of result. Strange.

So anyway, it's good we got a victory and 2 away-goals to boot. I think Roma should right about now throw in the towel and focus on their Serie A. As far as my opinion goes, their European campaign has ended. Roma needs to beat us by 3 goals in order to turn the tables around. Us leak 3 goals at Old Trafford? What are the chances?

I think it would be wiser for Roma forget about ECL already. Currently with 7 games to go, they are trailing Inter Milan by a mere 4 points which means that they have a very good shot to pip Inter Milan for the Scudetto. Why then, risk injury and fatigue fighting a losing battle?

JayWalk The Talk: Fletcher, Vidic and Saha are out while Silvestre and Neville are both coming back steadily to full physical fitness. However, it may be a while more before full match fitness is attained. By then perhaps the season is over? Would Fergie risk using them now at a time where each match is more and more critical?

On the Boro side, Mido is definitely out as with Huth and Jones. However, Gareth Southgate will be welcoming back Rochemback from the sick bay which would give him an additional option to midfield besides Boateng and Cattermole.

JayWalk The Walk: Bookies are making ManUtd give a 1.25-ball handicap with a pretty even decimal odds of 1.975 to beat it.

I am worried about two things here. As weaker as Boro is, they have do have a knack to be one of ManUtd's perennial bogey teams especially at the Riverside Stadium. In their last 10 head-to-heads, Middlesbrough have a respectable 3-3-4 against ManUtd (both home and away).

The other thing of concern is that I notice this season, is that ManUtd performs relatively poorly after returning from mid-week games. They may still win but ultimately performance was so poor that critics would be stabbing the team with their scribe knives. Passing the Asian-handicaps were also too often jeopardised as a result.

Also, on the horizon, we have the return leg to play as we host Roma on Wednesday. Just because we are 2-0 up on Roma, doesn't mean that we can slack off and expect Roma to let us cruise to the next round so easily. We do know that Fergie will be rotating players to conserve freshness of legs but your guess is as good as mine as to which of these two matches (Boro or Roma) is the more important one?

Logically, it would be Boro match as Roma is very much in cruise control but Fergie with his Euro Obssession, may feel otherwise. I guess we will all have to wait for the team sheet to be published an hour before kick-off.

We may be 5 points ahead of second-placed Chelsea but we should need at least 7-points buffer as insurance against our encounter against Chelsea and Arsenal in the run-in.

Verdict: I say we should win this encounter but I expect it to be a very tamed affair. However, I have my doubts about clearing the handicap. Then again, we only lose half a stake, so bet on ManUtd only if you can afford to risk it.

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.