I’m not sure what has happened to Manchester United since their blistering start to the season, but they have looked a completely different side over the past few weeks. Since the embarrassment against City, Sir Alex Ferguson has managed to tighten things up at the back – although there were still plenty of mistakes on Tuesday evening.

I thought United were lucky to escape from Swansea with a clean sheet and if Scott Sinclair had taken his chance – it could have been a very different game. Newcastle visit Old Trafford next and they will be bang up for the match-up with for Fergie’s men.

Newcastle had a real go at City last weekend, but were undone by some defensive lapses. The Magpies will need all their big players on fire and if they are, a point is on the cards. Yohan Cabaye missed the City match and the side missed him massively.

Swansea have a chance to bounce back from the disappointment of the United defeat with a game against Aston Villa. Alex McLeish’s side were given a real lesson on Monday night and I was surprised to see how little fight Villa put up.

We’ve seen how good Swansea are at keeping the ball and they were even able to play their own game against United last Saturday. Brendan Rodgers has done brilliantly at Swansea and until last week they were unbeaten at home. Even with Javier Hernandez’s winner, Swansea have still only conceded twice at Liberty Stadium since August.

However, United are not the force they were a few weeks back, so Villa won’t be put off too much by that result. In Darren Bent they have a top striker and if they can supply him with some good ball, Villa can win this. McLeish will have been working on the defense all week and I think we’ll see a marked improvement in South Wales.

The highlight of the weekend has to be Liverpool’s game against the league leaders at Anfield. I’m really looking forward to seeing how City come through their latest challenge, especially after their defeat at Napoli on Tuesday.

Liverpool were terrific against Chelsea, but they don’t seem to be getting it right at home over the last few weeks. Kenny Dalglish will have been pulling his hair out after two draws with Norwich and Swansea after they missed a catalogue of chances. However, the Reds seem to raise their game against the big guns and they are capable of nicking a point off the league leaders.

Betting on BETDAQ – Alan’s Punts:
Man Utd v Newcastle: back the draw at 4.8
Swansea v Aston Villa: back Villa at 3.4
Liverpool v Man City: back the draw at 3.4

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