Champions League

Spot on from Tom Alllen, a feast of goals as Utd won 3-2

Having dismissed AC Milan prior to their return leg against Bayern in the last eight I was seriously impressed with their performance in Germany and they now must rate as a real threat to the Premiership trio. Their semi-final opponents, Manchester United, are without their first choice back four and consequently have been on the drift in the previous forty eight hours. United can now be backed at odds-against.

The Red Devils 7-1 defeat of Roma in their quarter-final was one of the greatest Champions League performances ever produced but they have looked flat in their two subsequent Premiership matches and are certainly missing the likes of Ferdinand and Vidic at the heart of their defence.

Darren Fletcher is once again likely to fill in at right back while Wes Brown and John O’Shea look set to form the central defensive partnership. The good news for Sir Alex is that all of his attack minded players have been given a clean bill of health and I think he will want his side to take the game to the Italians.

In contrast to Ferguson’s woes, Carlo Ancelotti has virtually a full strength squad to choose from and he had the luxury of resting some key men on the weekend. Ronaldo is cup-tied so Ancelotti must choose between Filippo Inzaghi and Alberto Gilardino to fill the lone striker role. European semi-finals are usually tense affairs, especially first-legs, but the Premiership leaders are most effective on the front foot and that, coupled with their defensive concerns, means there should be plenty of goalmouth incident. I find it hard to imagine a low scoring affair and I’ll be surprised if both sides don’t find the net.

Go for the overs, at 2.34 with WBX, but also have a wager on there being 2-3 goals at 2.00 with Sporting Odds as a saver. I wouldn’t be surprised if it finished 1-1.