Gameday: Birmingham vs. United

The 411:
A quick one-two from the Premier League fixture-list-organising-sadists means we've got one day to recover from our 2-0 win over Sunderland on Sunday night. It's so quick, Amer didn't even do a preview!

Anyway, a Tuesday night match kicking off at 8pm in Birmingham means that, as there are other matches going on earlier in the day, United could be trailing to City by the time we kick off. Strange times.

Chasing the Title:
2 points clear of Arsenal and City, though both teams have played 1 and 2 games more than us, respectively. As Arsenal aren't in action until tomorrow night, seeing as they've just come off their demolition of Chelsea last night, we could see this lead stretch back to 5 points after the same number of games.

Where We Stand:
1|United|17P|22GD|37PTS
2|Arsenal|18P|17GD|35PTS
3|Man City|19P|12GD|35PTS
4|Chelsea|17P|19GD|31PTS
--------------------------------------
5|Tottenham|17P|3GD|27PTS

Enemy Form:
Birmingham are L-D-W-D-D-L in their last 6 Premier League matches, but their home form is D-L-W-D-W-D. I guess that's not that much better, but they're unbeaten at home in the last 4 games - one of which was an impressive 1-0 win over Chelsea.

Players to Look Out For:
Ben Foster in the Brum goal may turn out to be a thorn in his old club's side today as our one-time number one is churning out consistent performances between the sticks for them. Although, I'll be honest with you, the last Birmingham match I saw was the one against Chelsea where he was just inspired. Nevertheless, he could leave us frustrated and screaming profanities at our TV screens yet.

Elsewhere on the pitch, influential midfielders Lee Bowyer and Barry Ferguson will always pose a threat due to their combative style. But we've got plenty to cope with that, right?

Well! Seeing as Birmingham's game against Everton was called off on Boxing Day, Alex McLeish's men haven't seen any football since the weekend before last. They'll be fresh as hell.

James McFadden who's pretty dangerous with his left foot is out with an injury, so that's definitely a plus for United.

On the Home Front:
Where do we begin? We've just come off a game the day before yesterday, so Sir Alex will no doubt pull out the holiday shuffles. No new injuries to report, still the same suspects out injured: Nani (Hip/Thigh Injury), John O'Shea (Calf) Paul Scholes (Groin) and Valencia. Also, Fletcher was reported to have a virus which leaves him doubtful for tonight's match.

Owen's said he's fit so I wouldn't be surprised if he features today. In fact, I'd be very surprised if he was left out completely. But that's what our immense squad is for, right?

I reckon Sir Alex will swap the midfield around, although he did take Anderson and Giggs off—and kept going on about how the second half against Sunderland was "economical", so he may actually keep a few faces on from Sunderland. We caught a glimpse of Gibson, Macheda and Chicharito against Sunderland, and for the most part, those guys have been forgotten in the recent few matches—purely because of the brilliance of the guys who've been in their respective positions: namely Anderson, Park and Berbatov.

TSR's Thoughts:
1. Why does Amer insist on having so many damn subheadings on his Gameday previews?! It's nuts!
2. What will the team look like? I've got absolutely no clue with this one.
3. If Owen plays, which I think he will, I hope he scores. In fact, yeah:

Bold Prediction:
Owen to score tonight, United to win to stretch our lead. Doesn't get bolder than that.



Neunundneunzig luft-ballons, Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont. (Yeah, the second part means "floating in the summer sky"; IRONY OK GUYS?)