Betting tips / Ralph Ellis / 08 November 2011 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

The jewel in United's crown has been occupying a midfield berth and the result is clean sheets for the champions though the goals for column has looked more impressive, says Ralph Ellis.

Losing Paul Scholes was always going to be a hammer blow for Manchester United. Talk to any player from the last two decades at Old Trafford, and ask them to name the best they trained or played with, and few of them even hesitate before naming him. Even last season, for all that his legs were beginning to go, he was still the player Sir Alex Ferguson always turned to in a tricky spot.

It seems the early season flair of Ashley Young and Nani blinded us to how bare United had become in the centre of their midfield. It took the 6-1 hammering by City a few weeks ago to expose the scale of the problem.

Fergie's answer has been fascinating. He's moved Wayne Rooney back into the heart of the team, and the early signs are that it could work out a good fix for the problem. It certainly steadied the ship as Saturday's 1-0 win over Sunderland was the third clean sheet in a row since the derby debacle.

But what we have to find out next is whether what's good for Manchester United will also be good for Rooney.

The England star started the season on fire with two hat-tricks and nine goals altogether in United's first five Premier League games. He was matched at [2.7] and shorter for the golden boot, and at around [1.2] to be top English scorer.

But after picking up a niggling injury he hasn't scored a goal in open play for United in any competition since and you just start to wonder if a combination of changing his role with his club, and collecting a red card for his country, might be messing with his mind again. He's still [1.44] to lay to be top English scorer, but the likes of Frank Lampard and Darren Bent are starting to get close. And don't forget he went nine months in 2010 without a goal in open play - and that was when he was playing up front!

It's the beauty of the long Premier League season that things do change. Sometimes you wonder if the way forward is just to go against all the favourites in the early season betting. Arsenal and Spurs both started badly but after wins over West Brom and at Fulham respectively this weekend are firmly back in the cluster of clubs with realistic hopes of a top four finish. Tottenham have won seven of eight and showed some resilience to cling on to their lead at Fulham for a 3-1 win - even if they needed the help of an awful bit of refereeing.

Stoke won plaudits for an impressive start both at home and in Europe, maybe people are starting to work them out - they haven't scored a single goal from a long throw this season. A 5-0 hammering at Bolton followed a 3-1 home defeat by Newcastle to make it two defeats on the trot. Could the Europa League campaign hurt their ambition to reach the top half? They are currently [2.26] to lay in that market.

We all thought Manchester City couldn't score goals without Carlos Tevez, but they don't seem to be making such a bad job if it. A 3-2 win at QPR makes it 30 in the last eight games, and Roberto Mancini's side are now big favourites for the title at [1.91]. Then again we've seen five point gaps closed before, and there's no guarantee it won't happen again.

City's next game after the international break is against Newcastle, who stretched their unbeaten run to 11 games with a 2-1 win over Everton on Saturday lunchtime. Betfair punters expect the Toon's wheels to fall off - they are as long as [5.3] just to finish in the top-six. But what if they keep the unbeaten run rolling at The Etihad Stadiium? That could open up the title race all over again.

At the bottom I've lost money backing Wigan to go down for the last two seasons, so even after yesterday's 3-1 defeat at Wolves - their eighth loss on the spin - I won't be tempted even by [2.26] to finish rock bottom. Roberto Martinez, with the total backing of his owner, found a way to turn it round last year, and the year before. Just like Fergie finds ways to fix United's problems it seems he gets a side playing over the course of a season.