Aston Villa @ +150

[michalis]

man u have their hand fulls with the premier league and have a crucial clash with ac milan for the champions league

I think sir alex will choose to rest his key players and the ones that do play will be careful not to get injured or too tired

after all cup competitions are for the lesser sides

I think i might go for it

[Glada Tartan]

Maybe play Villa and money back at draw... 3,0 on that play at my bookie..

[Glada Tartan]

This is the line ups according to eurosport

Starting line-up Aston Villa
B. Guzan
C. Cuéllar R. Dunne J. Collins S. Warnock
A. Young J. Milner S. Petrov S. Downing
G. Agbonlahor J. Carew

Starting line-up Manchester United
E. van der Sar
G. Neville W. Brown N. Vidic P. Evra
A. Valencia D. Fletcher P. Scholes J. Park
D. Berbatov W. Rooney

[Glada Tartan]

Me no like that Rooney is playing...

[michalis]

when i say aston villa +150

its not for the match, its to win the trophy, either at full time, extra time or penatlies

I think to win the match straight up they are +280

also aston villa is a good team, they are currently fighting for spot number 4 in the premier league, they are a healthy side while man u is missing giggs, Rio ferdinand , hargreaves, o shea and anderson if i am not mistaken

[pitman]

quite the long shot. good luck

[Sforz]

I like the Villa to lift the trophy, saw it at +170 at betpho, but decided to play it safe and take them +1/2.. GL!

[michalis]

quite the long shot. good luck

why is this a long shot? the difference between the two sides is small

man u will have its mind on premier league and champions league, they will be somewhat indifferent

ferguson may opt to protect some players

aston villa has a full squad while man u is playing with key injuries

alex ferguson is only 1 out of 4 carling cup finals, thats 25%, probably because of the indifference factor

oh and aston villa is undefeated this season against man u, they drew in villa park

and actually beat man u in the theater of dreams!!!

[bigjonson]

No play here.

[pitman]

To be honest I have not looked into this game at all. You have some solid points, for sure. I think any team playing ManU is considered a long shot. Its tough to beat or draw Man U once let alone do it again. I doubt ManU will rest many key players considering their next match is 8 days away.
I have no desire to wager on this match tho and aston villa do have a shot , AV have some good defense and that will be the key in this one I think.
But I do not follow these teams very close and you most likely know more than I do about this match up. Good luck today

[RedDevil11]

why is this a long shot? the difference between the two sides is small

man u will have its mind on premier league and champions league, they will be somewhat indifferent

ferguson may opt to protect some players

aston villa has a full squad while man u is playing with key injuries

alex ferguson is only 1 out of 4 carling cup finals, thats 25%, probably because of the indifference factor

oh and aston villa is undefeated this season against man u, they drew in villa park

and actually beat man u in the theater of dreams!!!

First off...yes, we (United) did lose to Villa at OT, but you got to remember they nicked it late and this was one of our first games with a makeshift back line. With Vidic and Rio out, we had to use Fletcher at the back. As for the draw at Villa Park, did you not watch the game???? Nani was sent off with a red, and we still dominated the play. Yes, Villa are a good side and well managed by MON, but we have owned Villa...just look over the past 25 games prior to the loss at OT...since the Premiership's existence, we hadn't lost to them..last 25gp, 25 wins, 5 draws. We'll have revenge on our minds tonight. We have Vidic back for this game as well and he'll likely be partnered with Brown...that partnership has worked the best for us...case in point a clean sheet against West Ham last week. You mention Rio is out, Hargreaves out...they've been out for us most or all of this season. Anderson would likely have not featured anyhow....we'll probably go 4-5-1....wish we would play 4-4-2 with Rooney and Berba upfront as someone has mentioned in this thread, but we'll likely play Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Fletcher and Park in the middle.
Yes, Fergie has lost in the CC Finals three times and this was due to poor lineup decisions and he has admitted this publicly this week. It's at Wembley...few players get the opportunity to play there. Rooney was left on the bench in last year's finals and was gutted. Don't think Fergie will rest him this time around. We don't play AC Milan until March 10th....our next league game is March 6th against the lowly Wolves, so why would he need to rest anyone???. Just look at who he started against City in the semi's...we used a full-strenghth squad...We're already knocked out of the FA Cup so we'll want a chance to win another trophy.

I'm not saying we'll win this, but I'm just saying it might not be just that easy to back Villa without knowing all the facts.

[tailmypicks]

manyoo takes this one

[JOHON8]

man u have their hand fulls with the premier league and have a crucial clash with ac milan for the champions league

I think sir alex will choose to rest his key players and the ones that do play will be careful not to get injured or too tired

after all cup competitions are for the lesser sides

I think i might go for it

1. United postponed their prem. league game / have 7 days after this cup tie to prepare for Wolves.
2. The Milan match is in 12 days, and Milan are basically beat already.
3. "cup competitions are for the lesser sides" I disagree. There's a reason why Villa and United are in the final, it's because they are bigger sides and play months after months because of trophies not to let smaller teams win.

[RedDevil11]

1. United postponed their prem. league game / have 7 days after this cup tie to prepare for Wolves.
2. The Milan match is in 12 days, and Milan are basically beat already.
3. "cup competitions are for the lesser sides" I disagree. There's a reason why Villa and United are in the final, it's because they are bigger sides and play months after months because of trophies not to let smaller teams win.

Agreed.

Here was our lineup against City in the Cup semi's:

Manchester United No. NAME POS 1Edwin van der Sar(G)5Rio Ferdinand(D)3Patrice Evra(D)21Rafael(D)23Jonathan Evans(D)16Michael Carrick(M)11Ryan Giggs(M)18Paul Scholes(M)24Darren Fletcher(M)17Nani(M)10Wayne Rooney(ST)

Boy, would I love to have this 'lesser side' Changes will obviously be made here...Rio, Evans out (Vidic, Brown in). Giggs out (Park in). Nani out (Valencia in).

[Raadmand]

im small on villa.

[ji03]

ESPN is reporting that Rooney is not starting.

[pdx107]

ESPN is reporting that Rooney is not starting.

good to know
already made a small plan on Man U, not too horribly worried though, still feel they are the better team

[michalis]

i have played aston villa small at +175, if i win great, if i loose it was worth a shot

[michalis]

lol when i saw owen was in the starting lineup i was thinking to myself he aint never scoring :P

not looking good for my bet atm