Football Carling Cup Preview: Manchester United vs. Scunthorpe
English League Cup champions Manchester United will begin the defence of the trophy with a visit to an unchartered territory, as they take on League 1 outfit Scunthorpe at Glanford Park on Wednesday.
Manchester United have never played a competitive match against Scunthorpe, but their record in the League cup is very impressive. In the last five years, United have won the League Cup three times and the last time they suffered a defeat before the final
of the competition was back in 2007, when they lost to Championship side Coventry in the 3rd round at Old Trafford.
Alex Ferguson has a huge squad at his disposal, and he will bring in wholesale changes to his team giving his youngsters a chance to taste first team football in the match.
Manchester United’s hero at the weekend Dimitar Berbatov is certain to be rested for the low key clash, and so will be the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has led out his troops on the pitch for competitive action on more than 1000 occasions, while his counterpart on Wednesday Ian Barraclough will only be taking charge of his third match, when the two sides meet
at Glanford Park on Wednesday.
Barraclough, the former Queenspark Rangers defender has so far taken charge of one win and one defeat for his team after he was made the caretaker manager of Scunthorpe United, following the departure of Nigel Adkins to Southampton.
It is going to be a big occasion for Baraclough and his team, as they take on one of the biggest teams in World football. Glanford Park will be packed to its capacity, as Scunthorpe play the biggest match of their history.
As far as Barraclough’s team is concerned, he will be assessing the fitness of star defender Rob Jones before the match, who has been out for a couple of matches with a knee niggle.
Midfielder Jim McNulty may miss out on the big occasion, as he is still out nursing an injured ankle, while winger Garry Thompson is also going to be an absentee on the night.
On the other hand, Manchester United have no new injury worries as Sir Alex has almost a full squad at his disposal, but he is most likely to be fielding a squad full of youth and exuberance.
Ferguson is likely to employ the Da Silva twins, as the wingbacks in the match with Smalling and Evans as his Central defenders.
In the midfield Darron Gibson and Anderson will be marshalling the middle of the park, while on the wings we might see Bebe making his debut for Manchester United.
Gabriel Obertan is also likely to start for United, while Kiko Macheda, Michael Owen and Javier Hernandez will fight for the two slots for the strikers.
20-year-old Bebe did not play any part in the reserves 4-1 win against Bury, and it is almost certain that Alex Ferguson will hand the Portuguese his first start for Manchester United at Glanford Park.
The iron, as Scunthorpe are nicknamed, reached the fourth round of the League Cup last season when they lost 5-1 to Manchester City last season, and this is their third successive home tie in the competition after defeating Oldham and Sheffield Wednesday,
in the previous two rounds.
United are vying to win the English League cup for the third time running this season, and will become only the second English team to do so after Liver won the competition a record four times between 1981 and 1984.
Manchester United have won the League Cup four times in their history, and have appeared in the finals on 8 occasions.
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