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3rd May 2011 | Football

Man Utd v Schalke 04

Berbatov is set to replace Rooney

United may sometimes slip up against the top English sides away from home. But 2-0 up, they should cruise at home to Schalke.

A Manchester United side with one eye on a title decider with Chelsea can still be expected to be professional. With a 2-0 advantage to take to Old Trafford, Ferguson’s side can surely be expected to cement their place in the Champions League Final with the minimum of fuss. The manager’s pre-match comments give us helpful insight as to what sort of game to expect.

‘We will regroup and freshen it up. I will make some changes without question. I will bring Paul Scholes back in, Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen.

We will need to do that but I will probably keep my experienced players at the back.”

In other words Ferguson knows that there will be no problem so long as things are kept tight in defence, and he will rely on seasoned campaigners to get the job done. There is simply no need for United to expend unnecessary energy pushing for a huge winning margin against a Schalke side who were dominated in Germany a week ago. There is nothing to prove, and the better side has a strong grip on proceedings. At times likes this we can eye up the ‘total goals in the game’ market. Totesport are one bookie offering evens on there being less than 2.5 goals on the night, and this looks like a shrewd bet.

Odds correct at time of publishing: 17:04 3rd May, 2011 but subject to change

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