Premiership / Dan Fitch / 06 February 2011 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

Surely unbeaten Manchester United won't slip up against bottom of the table Wolves? Dan 'The Betting Man' Fitch doesn't think they'll be any shocks. Best Bet: Over 2.5 goals @ [1.82].

Venue: Molineux

Kick-Off/TV: 17:30/ESPN

A total of 3 points and 19 league places currently separate table-topping Manchester United and bottom-placed Wolves, as Sir Alex Ferguson's undefeated team travel to Molineux.

Both sides were in action in midweek, with the respective results rather summing up the two sides' seasons. Manchester United cruised to victory against Aston Villa, while Wolves suffered the sucker punch of conceding an injury time goal, just when it looked like they were about to pick up a useful away point at Bolton.

There's not been much good news for Mick McCarthy of late, but he at least has no new injury concerns, although long term casualties Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Adlene Guedioura, Stephen Hunt and Michael Kightly are all still unavailable.

For United, Darren Fletcher looks set to shake off an eye injury to start, while Rafael is expected to return after a spell out with concussion. Although Park Ji-Sung has returned from his Asian Cup duty with South Korea, it seems likely that he will be rested and allowed time to recover from the tournament.

Match Odds: Wolves [9.2], the draw [4.7], Manchester United [1.46]

If you're looking for signs that Wolves are capable of pulling off a shock, then look no further than the fact that they have already defeated Manchester City and Chelsea this season.

However, there are far more signs that indicate that Manchester United will win once again on Saturday. They are in terrific form at the moment and showed their mental strength recently against Blackpool, in a game where they refused to be beaten.

Add the fact that Wayne Rooney hit two goals and made another against Aston Villa, to suggest that he might be edging towards his brilliant best and the fact that Wolves have not scored in their last three games, and it's difficult to argue for anything but an away win. The [1.46] looks reasonable value, but you may wish to wait for the In-Play price to increase, if you fancy Wolves to make life difficult.

Over/Under 2.5 Goals: Under 2.5 [2.12], over 2.5 [1.82]

As mentioned, Wolves have not scored for three games and indeed, have struggled to find the net all season. So if we accept that they're quite unlikely to trouble the Manchester United defence, can they keep them out at the other end?

It seems unlikely. Wolves didn't manage to keep a clean sheet until December and though they've subsequently shut out Chelsea and Liverpool, both of those sides were seriously misfiring at the time.

This is not the case with United, who have broken the 2.5 goals barrier in five of their last six league games and are generally scoring for fun. It's overs all the way for me at [1.82].

First Goal Odds

The visitors opened the scoring against Aston Villa on Tuesday in the opening minute and it was no fluke. United have scored within the first five minutes in five of their last ten games, which makes the [4.8] on offer for the first goal to be scored (by either side) within the first ten minutes, pretty interesting.

If you want to play safe, it might be an idea to also bet on 11-20 minutes, which is available at [4.7]

Manchester United Clean Sheet

United have now gone three games without keeping a clean sheet, but before this they had not conceded a goal for three games. It may be then that they are overdue a clean sheet and against a shot-shy team like Wolves, the [2.16] looks like a nice price, with odds of [1.8] that they'll concede.

Best Bet: Back over 2.5 goals @ [1.82]

Recommended Bets: Back a Manchester United clean sheet @ [2.16], Back first goal with 1-10 minutes @ [4.8].