Cristiano Ronaldo is irreplaceable according to most pundits if not all of them; and the signing of Antonio Valencia in the summer wasn’t to replace the talisman but was instead brought because of the quality in which he had.

Valencia only scored three goals for Wigan last year, and this time around with United, not even halfway through the season, he has scored that many. In the absence of Rooney in most of October, Valencia has been the inspirational player, not only scoring late crucial goals but creating openings and chances for the Red Devils.

You’d expect with the number of wingers at the club that Valencia would be part of a rotation system but instead the Ecuadorian midfielder has featured 15 times in the red shirt, meaning he has the joint number of appearances with Dimitar Berbatov.

If you think about it, Valencia was a simple choice for the player of the month. Berbatov would have probably been my runner up, while Michael Owen wouldn’t be that far behind the Bulgarian. United haven’t played the most inventive football in this month, and the defeat to Liverpool is something to forget.

The winger is also quite fast, on and off the ball, and has created good understanding with his team-mates. You cannot doubt his work rate either and though Sir Alex Ferguson had spent quite a lot on him, you feel that he was a good buy and without a doubt, has been better than Nani this season though the Portuguese winger, I believe, has a place in this team as he is young and he has many of the qualities that Ronaldo himself possesses. Anyway to wrap up, I won’t be surprised if Valencia makes player of the month again this season.

Was Wes Brown fouled by Drogba?

Manchester United should feel hard done by. A fine display and they are right to feel aggravated. Jonny Evans and Wes Brown were terrific while Darren Fletcher was United’s best player, but it wasn’t to be their day, as John Terry’s header deep in the second half was enough to send Chelsea five points clear.

The makeshift defence rarely had to do too much, but the expected threat from Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka was not apparent at the Bridge. It is too early still to say that Chelsea have won the title, and as long as its the time of year leaves fall out of the trees the title has not been decided yet.

But, it only makes the task of the Red Devils harder and losing three games from their first twelve is a bit of a concern. The decision to play Rooney up front did not do too badly, as Chelsea’s diamond found it difficult to operate. And it Man Utd who had the better chances as Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick twice threatened to open the scoring.

The movement of Antonio Valencia, Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra was particularly impressive and though not too many clear-cut chances were created it was Man United who the better team in the first half and for the most of the second. These big games are always going to be hard, and considering the fact that last year’s champions haven’t played all that well this season, this was something to be a bit more pleased of. No, I’m not saying this United’s best performance this year (Spurs or Wigan I think was) but it was much more encouraging.

The second half started more of the same, but it all got heated soon and yellow cards came thick and fast from Martin Atkinson’s pocket. And after Terry had headed in Lampard’s free kick, the visitors had been claiming for a foul on Brown. Replay suggested that Drogba did foul the centre half, and whether you think it was a foul or not the referee had a bad day. Before that, Rooney had hit a shot not too far wide before he had tested Petr Cech with a curling effort.

Sir Alex brought on Obertan and Owen but that was far too late as there was only five minutes left. At the end of the day, its the result that’s important. And, though maybe not deserved, Chelsea extended the gap to five points.

Forget Haye v Valuev, this is the big one – Chelsea v Manchester United. This year’s favourites take on the Premier League champions. But while Chelsea – and Drogba – are in top form, United’s injury problems mount.

And it is Didier Drogba who pundits alike are talking about. He is in the best form of his life, and if there was a better time to face United for the Ivory Coast forward, it would have to be now as he will be up against a rather depleted looking back line.

Rio Ferdinand won’t play, and while people have been questioning his form concluding different reasons, it is obvious that his troublesome back is the reason for some bad performances of late. Sir Alex said on Friday that his injury showing no signs of improvement and surely that is a concern for all the United fans and indeed the fans who will be cheering England come the World Cup in the summer.

The doubtful Nemanja Vidic has also looked shaky, struggling against Fernando Torres a fortnight back, and Jonny Evans will face his toughest task yet of dealing with Drogba. The manner in which United conceded their three goals against CSKA Moscow in midweek was disappointing, but this match will be the ideal time and place to prove myself and others wrong. There is one fascinating stat to share with you – United are the only side not to concede from set-pieces this year. But this one isn’t too impressive; so far they have conceded 11 goals in 11 games and if you compare that to last season they only let in 20-odd.

Drogba will no doubt be the main threat. Not only is he scoring goals, but he is creating them too, and always finds himself in goalscoring positions. With Lampard and Anelka creating a three-man partnership, recently the Blues having been scoring for fun dispatching Bolton and Blackburn and while it is unlikely the score will be 4-0 or something like that, the red Devils will have to be wary of the problems that these players can cause, in particular Didier Drogba.

But, in the other end, there’s Wayne Rooney. The hot talking point in the past fortnight is who is better, Rooney, Torres or Drogba? You’d expect most readers to say Rooney, considering his ability, and the way he could change a game instantly, the 3-3 draw against CSKA is an example where from 3-1 down he inspired a Man Utd comeback, and with the arrival of new born son Kai, this could be the day when Rooney flourishes and will probably be doing the rocking baby celebration if he finds the target.

This match won’t be billed ‘David and Goliath‘ like the eagerly awaited boxing match today, why would it be when the contrast in quality is minimal with these two. But the fight between these two teams to reach the top of the table come May will be tense. Who will provide the knockout blow in the ring on Sunday? Chelsea from the blue corner, or Manchester United from the red corner?

After eleven league games it looks as if Chelsea and Manchester United will be the two sides battling for the title through the course of the season.  Liverpool look to be all but out of it already, questions still remain as to whether Arsenal can maintain their form throughout the campaign and Man City have lost ground following a run of draws.  United face the tricky test of a trip to Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon, and there are some serious injury doubts ahead of the trip to London.

I think it is fair to say we haven’t seen the best of Rio Ferdinand this so far this season.  He has always had the odd moment of madness during his career but this campaign mistakes have crept in on a regular basis.  However, Wes Brown defended Rio earlier this week and explained the centre-half has been suffering from a back injury which has affected his form. 

“Rio has been injured for a very long time and he’s been getting a lot of pain in his back for a long time,” explained Brown. “I’m not sure how many months it’s been going on, but he’s come to the stage where he’s sorting it out now.

“When he comes back, I’m sure he’ll be a lot stronger. If you are not fully fit and you try to play, it’s very hard, especially with how fast the Premier League is now.”

Ferdinand looks certain to miss the clash with Chelsea on Sunday, with Johnny Evans expected to deputise in his place.  There is somewhat of a defensive crisis at Old Trafford at the moment, star man Nemanja Vidic is also a major doubt ahead of the trip to the league leaders as he has a calf strain.  Dimitar Berbatov, Ryan Giggs and Park Ji-Sung are all suffering with knee problems and face a battle to be fit in time for the trip to Chelsea.

One man who will play, despite injury, is midfielder Darren Fletcher.  Fletcher has revealed he is playing with an ankle injury that will require surgery but he has been having injections and intends to try and stay fit and have the operation at the end of the campaign – great spirit that must be applauded.

Unfortunately Chelsea are blessed with a virtually fully-fit squad with just Jose Bosingwa, Jon-Obi Mikel and fringe player Youri Zhirkov ruled out.  On a positive note Spanish strugglers Atletico Madrid held them to a draw, and very nearly beat them, in midweek.  However, prior to that result the Blues had been in terrific form banging in plenty of goals and generally looking lethal – albeit against sides such as Blackburn and Bolton.

With United suffering some major injury problems I’m sure Sir Alex would take a point on Sunday, even if he won’t admit it.  Chelsea have looked excellent this season, though in fairness they have been beaten by Wigan and Aston Villa so they’re by no means invincible.  Even with a depleted side United represent the biggest test Chelsea’s latest manager Carlo Ancelotti has come up against and he may well be happy with a draw at the end of the match.  This really is too close to call, even with Chelsea’s home advantage, but I’m confident it United perform to the level we all know they’re capable of they can beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Written by Gareth Freeman, a sports writer promoting Cheltenham 2010 and racing tips for Betfair.

No wonder Sir Alex Ferguson admires him so much. Igor Akinfeev may have conceded three goals – though none of them was his fault – but he had pulled off a number of world-class saves which had frustrated Manchester United.

He is only 23, but he has been first choice ‘keeper at CSKA Moscow for six years now, and was just 17 when he broke into the Russian side making him the youngest ever. That is a surprise, but Akinfeev is a gifted goalkeeper and who knows how long he will stay on at CSKA now? “He’s got courage,” said CSKA’s goalkeeping coach Vyacheslav Chanov. “He doesn’t get nervous. His main strength is his confidence, which transmits itself to his team-mates. It’s very rare for him to make a mistake in positioning.”

His future at the Russian club will always be in doubt. He has quality, and though he is not tall, he makes that up with his other abilities such as his shot stopping, or positioning. On some of the matches I’ve seen on him, he looks well composed in goal and his decision making isn’t a problem. Right now, though I believe United’s current goalkeepers are good enough, their problem is that their decision making is, well, poor. Ben Foster is an example of this, but he is still a good ‘keeper and that’s something he will have to work on.

It is unlikely that Manchester United will sign him. After denying Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen with saves you would only associate with the Buffon’s or the Schmeichel’s, Sir Alex ruled out any chance of signing him, but did recognize the talent in which he called the Russian, who has well over 150 caps for his club, ‘outstanding’.

“We wouldn’t be interested, but I have to say he is a fantastic goalkeeper. He is athletic, with a powerful build, and his distribution his good. He really saved CSKA from a big defeat against us. He made one very good save in the first half and four I think in the second half. He was outstanding.”

You have to agree on Sir Alex there. Right now, Man United have a top goalkeeper in Van der Sar already, and when he retires has too good ‘keeper’s in Kuszczak and Foster. But the talent is there. Long before the season had even started, he has been linked to a number of big clubs such as United and it very clear why. He will easily break into England’s squad because he is a gifted player, a natural if you like. If he can continue such progress then he can become a Buffon or a Schmeichel.

Manchester United went into yesterday’s game against CSKA Moscow needing a point – which was achieved – but as usual it was done the hard way and once again the problems in the defence were apparent, and it was this problem which nearly led to an embarrassing defeat.

You cannot fault United’s determination when they were 3-1 down, something which paid off, but while you can give credit to the midfielders and forwards for their tenacity, the defence was again, unfortunately, the problem. They failure at times to deal with high balls, or reluctance to put a challenge in nearly cost them.

You could argue that this was a completely different looking back four, what with Neville, Brown, Evans and Fabio all second-string, but it is a slight concern considering the patchy form of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic. Both those two missed the game, and there we find another problem, they get injured far too often meaning these players have to make sure that they can provide the adequate cover. The two central midfielders, Paul Scholes and Darren Fletcher did not track back to often.

The Red Devils had started the game positively, both Michael Owen and Federico Macheda having good chances as this reshuffled United side had pressed hard for a goal. But it was the away side who took the lead, Alan Dzagoev scoring a terrific goal which beat a static Edwin van der Sar. A reply was quick, typical of United, as Owen’s shot a few minutes later meant the teams were level again.

Milos Krasic had then made it 2-1, and after the interval Vasili Berezutski headed home a free-kick and a famous victory was on the cards. But United had another card up their sleeve, that of Wayne Rooney, who came off the bench and instantly helped turn the game back into the home side’s favour. Rooney, just 24 hours before was celebrating the name of new son Kai Wayne, but we will we stick to observing the match instead of his choice of name.

Before he had come on, United had a strong penalty shout. Darren Fletcher appeared to have been fouled, but was booked for ‘diving instead much to his dismay. The hosts continued to press, and as the minutes ticked, with much more urgency. It was someone who Sir Alex himself admires so much, opposition ‘keeper Igor Akinfeev who looked destined to save Moscow.

But as time was ticking, and with the score at 3-1 United needed something special. You have to be impressed with the way United kept on pressing and how, even with CSKA putting everyone behind the ball, they managed to find chances and then gradually find goals.

Akinfeev continued to deny any chance of a goal, and even had help from the post as Macheda’s header had threatened to give United a lifeline. Paul Scholes’ header had made it 3-2 on the 84th minute, headering Gary Neville’s free kick past Akinfeev. Much of the same was required as the game grew closer to its end. Antonio Valencia’s shot deep in injury time was deflected and the comeback was complete. The goal sealed last year’s runner-up in the last 16, and to cap off a grandstand finish, CSKA’s Deividas Semberas saw red after a second bookable offence.

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A couple of weeks ago, we done a scout report on Man Utd target Stephen Defour and on Thursday, we will do one on Igor Akinfeev, after his impressive performance at Old Trafford.

Like so often it wasn’t the greatest Manchester United performance but they did deserve the three points as Blackburn had made them fight hard for it. It was the inspirational Dimitar Berbatov who had carried United, demonstrating his tricks, flicks and of course a superb piece of individual skill which broke the deadlock in the 55th minute.

Berbatov was man of the match, no doubt about it. After he had pounced on the ball before hitting it on the half volley, suddenly a sense of relief had taken over Old Trafford. Only Berbatov could do something as magical as that, we’ve already seen that this season against Sunderland when his scissor-kick was just too good for the ‘keeper.

It wasn’t just his goal, but he was the player who probably worked hardest on the pitch. He has been called ‘lazy’ by critics so many times, but that was not apparent on Saturday. You wonder, after that goal, what those ‘critics’ are saying now.

The Bulgarian has a winning mentality. He was the spearhead for United, creating chances and he did not put a foot wrong all game. He was at the right place at the right time, having a host of chances before the break and his link up play with Wayne Rooney was impressive.

He had a goal disallowed early on, after Rooney had crossed a beauty in the path of Berbatov which he duly tapped in. The goal, rightly so, did not count. Rooney also had a good game, and it was he who finally killed the game off in the 87th minute with a lovely finish past Paul Robinson to make it 2-0.

Still, Man Utd are still far away from their very best. Games against Wigan and Tottenham were two games where United successfully triumphed but also played like a top Premier League side. Next up for United is a Champions league tie against CSKA Moscow, also at Old Trafford, before a daunting trip to Chelsea.

Saturday’s Player Ratings: Van der Sar 6, O’Shea 6, Brown 6, J Evans 6, Evra 6, Anderson 6, Carrick 7, Nani 6 (Obertan 5), Valencia 7, Berbatov 8* (Owen 5), Rooney 7

By Gareth Freeman

United’s Carling Cup win over Barnsley was encouraging in the fact the ‘squad’ players came in and gave a decent account of themselves.  Michael Owen’s goal was vintage Owen, he showed neat skills and a cool composure to send the ball into the net but, with all due respect to Barnsley, he should have registered a goal against the opposition.

A man who came in and really impressed was Gabriel Obertan.  I didn’t know a lot about the player when he came in but he showed a quick turn of pace and some neat touches against the Tykes and should push for a place in the starting line-up over the course of the season.  Obertan’s performance has already been discussed on the blog so feel free to check out what manutd24 thinks of him there but needless to say he looks a quality player and may be rewarded for his performance in midweek with a place on the bench on Saturday.

So what about the opposition?  Rovers were hit with a ‘swine flu crisis’ in their 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Chelsea apparently.  Rumours are rife boss Sam Allardyce has contacted the contagious disease although the club have moved to deny this.  Allardyce orchestrated a few victories against the betting odds in his time as Bolton manager but I think it is fair to say he hasn’t quite got his current charges where he wants them just yet.  I’m not convinced by the strength in depth in the Blackburn squad and I doubt they’ll pick up many points off the top sides this season.  They’re probably a bit too good to go down but I can’t see them taking anything off United at the weekend in all honesty.

Sir Alex Ferguson will be looking to register three points in this fixture following the disappointing display last weekend.  Fortunately United have a big enough advantage over Liverpool for the result not to matter as much as it could do but losing to the old enemy never has any real positive points!

One of the most concerning things about the loss to Liverpool was the performance of Rio Ferdinand.  He seems to be making far too many errors at the moment and he could be in danger of losing his place in the starting eleven to Johnny Evans, who has deputised well whenever called upon to replace either Nemanja Vidic or Ferdinand.  Vidic’s red-card may see Ferdinand retain a place in the starting line up and the England international should be looking to impress – because he hasn’t been performing the way a Manchester United defender should over the course of the season so far.

It is probably a good time to play Blackburn in all fairness and in reality they should be seen as easy-meat for United, especially at Old Trafford.  I doubt many will be backing the Rovers to get anything out of this tie with their online Premier League betting and I expect United to put the disappointment of last weekend firmly behind them by comfortably seeing off Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

Though it was against lower opposition, you have to be impressed by Gabriel Obertan’s performance yesterday at Oakwell. He has pace, a lot of it, and you could not question his other areas of his game such as his dribbling or his passing ability.

It was very impressive considering that he just come back from a long lay-off in the sidelines. But the question is whether the injury-prone winger can stay fit for most of the season. With many starting to lose faith in Nani, a player who is seen as ‘inconsistent’, it might be time for someone to step up, whether that is Obertan or maybe even Zoran Tosic.

Tosic did come on yesterday, and showed signs of his talent, but the fact that Sir Alex Ferguson left him out of his Champions League squad in favour of Obertan may suggest that the Serbian’s first full season will be largely reserve and Carling Cup games.

Judging by yesterday’s 2-0 win over Barnsley, Obertan should be pushing Nani very hard this season, and if he can stay fit this may happen. He impressed in a reserve game not long ago, showing some neat touches and deft flicks and displaying his ‘unknown’ talent in front of the manager.

Danny Welbeck was also impressive and was unfortunately subbed as he picked up a knock. His header in the 6th minute shows his all round talent as a forward, a tall, athletic player who can strike the ball as well as header it. He looked composed throughout the game, and his dribbling was particularly encouraging for a player who can also so play as a winger, though he is most affective up front.

Sir Alex had once tipped him to make England’s World Cup squad to South Africa, but though that is unlikely, he can definitely aim for the squad for 2014 and most probably 2018. Gabriel Obertan, can also set his sights for Brazil in 2014 with the France national squad as he has a lot of potential. Let’s hope he can continue to impress and maybe what United need after the void left by Cristiano Ronaldo…

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Barnsley 0-2 Manchester United

Wrap Up: A decent performance from a youthful side but they were prone to many crosses and did not defend well. Ben Foster played well and made a string of saves to deny any kind of goal. We have disclosed our ratings so check that out. Hope you have enjoyed the live text!

Player Ratings: Foster 8*, Neville 5, Brown 6, Evans 6,
Fabio Da Silva 5, Obertan 7, Rafael Da Silva 5, Anderson 5, Welbeck 7 (Tosic 6), Macheda 6, Owen 7 (De Laet 6).

90′ FULL TIME: Barnsley 0-2 Man Utd

90′ Can Barnsley press for a goal? Doesn’t look like it. Three minutes added on. Then two intruders come on to the pitch and one of them score! Past Foster! Stewards take an awful long time to clean the ‘mess’. More minutes to be played now. Surely, the guy who scored should be signed by the Tykes as he is far better than that Anderson da Silva!

89′ Anderson has an effort easily saved by the ‘keeper. Fabio and Hamill clash heads because of Hamill’s challenge on Fabio. Should have been booked. Hamill is a Liverpool supporter too! Tosic is booked minutes after.

87′ Ben Foster kicking is a problem. He can’t clear the ball all that well. He’s a good shot stopper but unlike Van der Sar can’t clear the ball under pressure.