Manchester United vs. Wolverhampton

Manchester United vs. Wolverhampton
Carling Cup, Old Trafford
September 23, 15.00 EST

United Projected Starting XI:
---------------Kuszczak-----------------
---Neville----Brown---Evans----Fabio----
--Welbeck---Gibson----Carrick---Tosic--
-----------Owen-------Macheda-----------

Players to Watch:
Manchester United: Zoran Tosic - After what many considered to be a good preseason showing for Tosic he has yet to be used in the first team yet this season. Since then he was left out of United's Champions League squad for the group stages. He certainly has something to prove and putting a solid outing against Woves would be the perfect way to do it.

Wolverhampton: Sylvan Ebanks-Blake - The Manchester United product will be out to prove himself against the club who brought him into the football world. After an opening day injury Ebanks-Blake made his return against Fulham at the weekend, but will be looking to get back in the groove with this Carling Cup appearance.

Prediction:
Manchester United 3:1 Wolves
Goals: Michael Owen, Danny Welbeck, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Darron Gibson

Sir Alex will be relishing this tie as a good opportunity to give the younger players a shot against some very decent opposition in Wolves. Expect them to go out and attack, a lot depends on how midfielders like Welbeck, Gibson and Tosic perform.

With Michael Owen scoring a massive goal against City the idea will be to keep the run going and there is a good chance he will start against Wolves. Macheda may also be a key figure for United making his first appearance of the season, after scoring twice during preseason.

Last season in United's Carling Cup matches there was a 3-1 win, a 5-3 win and a 4-2 win so expect an open exciting match. The youngsters will certainly be up for the match and despite the Carling Cup being a second tier tournament this will be a very competitive match with players on both sides of the ball looking to impressive their managers.

I have a piece about the Carling Cup in general over at the 24th Minute if anyone is interested.