Otelul Galati v Manchester United

Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted that he had never previously heard of Tuesday’s Champions League opponents Otelul Galati. The Romanians won their domestic league for the very first time last season and Tuesday’s fixture is widely regarded as the biggest game in the club’s 47-year history.

Inevitably the bookies have priced the English champions up as virtual certainties to win this match. United are 2/9 with VictorChandler with the hosts available at 14/1 with Coral. I think it’s fair to assume that there will be no slip-up here, particularly with the pertinent need for victory after two consecutive draws for last year’s finalists.

However, those expecting a walkover may be disappointed. Otelul have held their own thus far, without having much to show for it. The Romanians only lost 2-1 away to Basle after a late Frei penalty and it was similarly close in the 1-0 home defeat to Benfica last time out. Two sides who held Man Utd only just squeezed past Otelul, which suggests that the gulf in class isn’t too vast. Besides which, we can anticipate that a side facing the biggest match in their history are always liable to play above themselves.

In Europe, United always look to get the job done while expending as little energy as possible. Sunday’s derby with City is already the talk of the town and it’s a certainty that Ferguson will substitute certain key figures as soon as the scoreline looks satisfactory on Tuesday. Getting a healthy lead then shutting up shop will surely be the order of the day. With that in mind I think this looks like a good game to go for a scoreline prediction. Man Utd to win 2-0 is best price 11/2 with ToteSport and must be a highly probable outcome.