United To Shoot Down MK Dons

After a disappointing start to the season, Louis Van Gaal takes his Man United side to the MK Dons for Tuesday night’s Capital One Cup clash.

Form
MK Dons have begun the new 2014/15 season in impressive style, winning two and drawing one of their four League One matches and also beating AFC Wimbledon 3-1 in the first round of this competition.

Benik Afobe, Kyle McFadzean and Daniel Powell all have two goals for the season, while the MK Dons’ defence have kept consecutive clean sheets in their two most recent fixtures.

Manchester United, meanwhile, have picked up where they left off last season with Louis van Gaal failing to have the immediate impact that many anticipated he might. Rebuilding the 20-time champions of England looks like it will be a long-term project.

The opening day 2-1 defeat to Swansea was a shock to the system after a really productive pre-season, and then the weekend draw with Sunderland only served to further highlight United’s deficiencies.

The midfield lacks creativity and guile, while an inexperienced defence leaves too many gaping holes for the opposition to exploit. The Red Devils need their summer signings fit and available soon.

Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney are the only two United players to have got their names on the scoresheet this season, with Van Gaal still looking for his first win in England.

Team News
Dons ‘keeper David Martin and full-back Lee Hodson missed the weekend draw with Coventry having each been substituted at half-time in the midweek win against Chesterfield due to injury. Danny Green also sat out Saturday’s game with a hamstring problem and new signing Samir Carruthers is yet to make his debut due to a thigh strain.

United will continue to be without new signings Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera, as well as Michael Carrick and Jesse Lingard. Chris Smalling is also a major doubt after Michael Keane replaced him just before half time in the 1-1 draw at Sunderland.

Van Gaal has not made any indication as to whether he will make sweeping changes to his XI this midweek, but after bemoaning his side’s lack of cohesion and poor passing at the weekend he may be tempted to stick with a relatively strong side in the hope that they can start to gain some momentum and further understanding about their new system of play.

Head-to-Head
Manchester United have never met MK Dons in their current state, but their final three games against Wimbledon all ended in score draws.

Recommended Bets
The team news will have a big effect on the betting for this game and if, as I suspect may be the case, Van Gaal decides to name a relatively strong starting XI then the currently available 4/11 on a Untied win will vanish. At this point I’d say that backing the visitors for the win is an extremely good value bet.

The handicap markets also provide value and United -2 goals is a 23/10 shot and my best bet of the night.

Goalscorer betting will also depend on which names feature on the teamsheet, but this sort of game looks custom made for the likes of Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck to try and impress their new boss. Chicharito can be backed at 7/2 to score the opener, while Welbeck is a 4/1 chance.