Carling Cup Preview: United v. Queens Park Rangers

By: Taylor Rockwell | November 10th, 2008

Carling Cup Matchday Two: Tuesday, November 11
Kickoff: 20:00 (2:00 PM EST)
Location: Old Tafford, Manchester, England

Ah, the Carling Cup. The mid-week match wherein Fergie seizes the opportunity to give all of the pre-pubescent yung’uns a runout against lower opposition (in this case, Queen Park Rangers).

Notable Points:

Queens Park Rangers
QPR is currently sitting in 7th place in the Championship, once place out of a promotion playoff spot with 25 points. The Hoops have been on a decent run of form, but aren’t helped by the fact that their manager’s lip quivers with fear at the mere mention of the words Manchester and United. QPR will be without midfielder Mikele Leigertwood (serving the third game of a four match ban) and Rowan Vine (broken leg). Gavin Mahon, 87, will hope to find himself in the Hoops starting eleven after having found the back of the net against Cardiff on Saturday. The fact that that Cardiff squad had only nine players indicates that Hoops may not have the most fearsome strikeforce. Nevertheless, this is the team that knocked off the Villains, so United had best come out strong.

Manchester United
For those of you born before 1985, prepare to feel old. Very old. Fergie plans to give his youngsters some solid match experience, stating, “The younger ones who will play will be Jonny Evans, Rodrigo Possebon, Rafael, Darron Gibson, Danny Welbeck… and possibly Manucho. The rest of the team will be filled by the first team squad.”

Possebon will make his return to the starting eleven since suffering an injury against Boro on Matchday One. Possebon had put in an impressive performance before a red-card tackle by Emanuel Pogatetz forced him to leave the pitch and left many United fans fearing the worst . Expect a return to form from United’s 408th central midfielder.

Nemanja Vidic and Gary Neville put in less than stellar performances on Saturday, and Evans, O’Shea, and Company will no doubt see any/all playing time as an opportunity to improve their standing. Thus, expect a young, tough, and physical United defense (anchored by Rio, of course) to put in a solid performance. Rafael will no doubt will look to build upon his impressive performance against Arsenal.

Recent Results:

Queens Park Rangers

November 8th vs. Cardiff (H) win 1-0 (CHAMPIONSHIP)

November 1st vs. Ipswich (A) loss 2-0 (CHAMPIONSHIP)

October 28th vs. Birmingham (H) win 1-0 (CHAMPIONSHIP)

October 25th vs. Reading (A) draw 0-0 (CHAMPIONSHIP)

October 21st vs. Swansea (A) draw 0-0 (CHAMPIONSHIP)

Manchester United

November 8th vs. Arsenal (A) loss 2-1 (PREMIERSHIP)

November 5th vs. Celtic (A) draw 1-1 (CHAMP LEAGUE)

November 1st vs. Hull City (H) win 4-3 (PREMIERSHIP)

October 29th vs. West Ham (H) win 2-0 (PREMIERSHIP)

October 25th vs. Everton (A) draw 1-1 (PREMIERSHIP)

Taylor’s Projected Lineups:

Queens Park Rangers: Radek Cerny, Fitz Hall, Damion Stewart, Peter Ramage, Matthew Connolly, Lee Cook, Martin Rowlands, Gavin Mahon, Emanuele Ledesema, Dexter Blackstock, Patrick Agyemang

Manchester United: Tomasz Kuszczak, Rafael da Silva, Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans, Johnny O’Shea, Nani, Darren Fletcher/Anderson, Rodrigo Possebon, Ryan Giggs, Danny Wellbeck, Carlos Tevez. Expect Gibson and Manucho to get in near the end, with Anderson factoring somewhere along the way.

Prediction:

My man-crush on Manucho is reason enough for me to close the office door, pretend to be on a conference call, and tune-in to whatever stream doesn’t cut me off every 10 minutes. That said, Fergie will definitely find time to play a frustrated Tevez, and I would expect a Tevez-Welbeck to make an impact. However, this match is by no means a foregone conclusion, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t decided until late. My prayer is that Manucho wanders onto the pitch, rockets home a stunner, and then the floodgates open. Unfortunately, that rocket is definitely going to have to come from distance, because I would expect QPR to employ the 8-1-1 formation.

United 3 – Queens Park Rangers 0