Originally posted on 08/30/2015:

Hey guys! I'm new here. I'm a United fan and have watched basically all our games for the past 10 years, and have had good success capping them. I'll try to give my opinion.

I believe United are on the verge of becoming an excellent team. The only thing that is missing is some more fluency in attack, which is getting better every game. The major determinant is going to be Rooney's form, which was horrific at the start, but he's getting better (hat-trick against woeful Brugge on Wednesday). His confidence was shot, but as soon as he got the first goal you could see the return of the old Wayne. I'm not sure if he's on penalty duty, since he missed a few last season and then Mata took over, but I still think if United do get a penalty he'd be the one to take it to keep the goals flowing.

All the summer signings have so far been great. Schneiderlin adds so much stability and protection to the back 4, and he's no slouch going forward. Schweinsteiger is not yet completely fit, but he's getting there, and he's shown his huge quality at times. Depay is a match winner and he's always a threat, but so far his best games have been against Brugge, and in the PL he hasn't been too good, gives the ball away a lot, however, I think it's just a matter of time before he produces in the PL as well. Darmian has been amazing defensively so far, basically hasn't put a foot wrong yet; he hasn't been to productive in attack, but that will come once he's completely settled. Sadly, with the De Gea fiasco he isn't starting (and will likely be sold soon), however, Romero has done a decent job. Surprisingly, Blind's move to LCB has worked too, and he adds a new dimension to building attacks from defence with his sharp passing.

So, all in all, the team has been very steady defensively, controlling possession all the time (usually 65:35 in United's favor), and slowly getting better in attack.

So far this season we've only played teams where we've controlled the game and they tried to hit us on the counter, but I think this won't be the case against Swansea who like to do the same thing themselves. I think this will suit United, since the probem this year has often been breaking down these defensive teams, due to lack of cohesion/creativity, and we've mainly relied on individual quality. I expect possession to be 50/50 with both teams also having chances on the counter.

Swansea are a very good team, with their 2 major threats being Montero & Gomis. I fully expect Darmian to stiffle Montero, and Smalling to handle Gomis (he will probably try to target Blind but I expect Smalling to cover for him). Still, Swansea will have their chances, and United's defensive record is not as bulletproof as it may seem on paper.

LVG has said a few times about us losing twice against Swansea last season, so this might mean he'll try to play pragmatic not to lose, but I think there's just too much quality in both sides for this to become a boring closed game. Januzaj is injured, so Herrera will hopefully get the nod at #10 position, where he's great.

It's a hard game to cap for sure... still, my picks are:

BTS @ 1.8 ; 6/10
Rooney to score at anytime @ 2.5 ; 5/10
Draw @ 3.4 ; 5/10 (definitely value in this one)