Carling Cup preview: Manchester United v Wolves
Just how badly does Mick McCarthy want to ensure Premier League survival?
Enough to sacrifice an extended run in this year’s Carling Cup? Without any shadow of a doubt.
Had Wolves been fairing a little better in the top flight, McCarthy may have been tempted to field his strongest line-up against the Red Devils this evening. However, with his side currently languishing in 19th place – joint bottom of the league – the Wolves boss knows that full focus must be directed towards escaping the looming relegation dogfight, despite insisting that his best players will feature.
But should he run the risk of playing his best available XI, the West Midlands outfit would surely stand a decent chance of progressing to the Carling Cup quarter-finals.
Although United are a formidable proposition against any opponent at Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that a similarly weakened team to the one that beat Scunthorpe 5-2 in the third round, will play against Wolves this evening.
This means another run out for the likes of Darron Gibson, Federico Macheda and Michael Owen, who grabbed a brace in last month’s thrashing over the Iron. And a well-earned rest for the likes of Paul Scholes, Dimitar Berbatov and Nemanja Vidic.
After his heroics at the weekend, it’s unlikely that Mexican starlet Javier Hernandez will start, and as for Wayne Rooney – the controversial figure at the centre of last week’s contract saga – he’s still out injured with an ankle problem sustained in training.
While the hosts’ route to the fourth round has been relatively straightforward, Wolves have endured a slightly trickier route to this stage of the competition, scrapping to extra-time victories over both Southend United and Notts County.
Despite deploying his fringe players against Notts County, Wolves were unable to beat their League One opponents over 90 minutes, and had to rely on the services of first-team regulars Steven Fletcher and Kevin Doyle to enter the fray as substitutes and rescue the tie.
It’s expected that McCarthy will adopt a similar approach at Old Trafford tonight. Last December, the Wolves boss was heavily criticised and slapped with a £25,000 suspended fine for fielding a below-strength team against the Red Devils in the Premier League – a match which Wolves lost 3-0 – but on this occasion, the former Republic of Ireland manager should draw few complaints for putting his full focus into Saturday’s tough league fixture against Manchester City.
With Manchester United up again after that and then Arsenal, all in consecutive weeks, it promises to be a hugely testing few weeks for the club. Indeed, it’s a spell which promises to have a crucial bearing on the rest of their campaign.
For a taste of what to expect tonight, last year’s Carling Cup third-round tie between the two sides provides an insight of what may unfold. On that September night, United edged out their opponents thanks to a Danny Welbeck goal in front of a 51,000-strong crowd at Old Trafford, as the eventual 2010 Carling Cup winners marched on.
Barring any major shocks this evening, a similar result, performance and turnout is virtually guaranteed - as United bid to become the first club since Liverpool to win the League Cup three times in a row.
And should that prediction come to fruition, it’ll be a result which suits not only Ferguson, but also his Wolves’ counterpart.
Prediction: Manchester United 2 Wolves 0
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