Can Manchester United keep up the winning momentum or will Cardiff spoil the party?

Will RVP start against Cardiff?

After a tumultuous start to this reign as Manchester United manager, Moyes has finally managed to change things around. After three successive wins on the bounce, in the League, including the victory against Arsenal, just before the international break, Moyes seems to have settled on his side and will be looking to make it four out of four, as a trip to Wales beckons. After complaining about a set of tough set of opening fixtures which saw the club make its worst start to a Premier League campaign, Moyes will be pleased by the fact that they have turned things around.

Next up for Moyes is a trip to South Wales to face a Cardiff outfit, whose inconsistency has been their undoing so far this season. Although they beat Manchester City and Swansea at home, in what was a historic fixture in the history of the Premier League, they have struggled to string two wins together, and that has resulted in them being just two points off the drop zone. Cardiff’s 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa was far from ideal preparation as the sides went into the international break, but Malky Mackay will be hoping his side can put a similar performance to the one that saw them beat the other Manchester club at home.

If victory is what Mackay’s men are on the lookout for, then history is on their side in this fixture as they have lost four of the last five meetings with Manchester United in all competitions. If this wasn’t enough, they face an in-form United side, spearheaded by Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie, who have combined for 18 goals already this season. Victory over Arsenal two weeks ago meant that United extended their unbeaten run to nine games in all competitions and haven’t lost in the Premier League since West Brom beat them at home in late September.

Whilst it is true that United are unbeaten in their last five league matches, winning four of them, Moyes wouldn’t have been too happy about the fact that the clean sheet against Arsenal was only United’s third in 11 League games. Moyes has had to manage with a lot of injuries to his key players, especially in central defense, where both Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic have been out for large chunks of the season already. After a collision with De Gea in the game against Arsenal, Vidic remains a doubt for this game, so is Van Persie who picked up a knock whilst playing for Netherlands.

Whilst those two are doubts, Moyes will definitely travel to South Wales, without Carrick, Welbeck and Jones, which might just mean that Ryan Giggs will start the game. The veteran Welshman is expected to slot into central midfield and would be playing in front of his adoring hometown, just a few days before his 40th birthday. If he starts, Giggs will be hoping to extend his run of scoring in every Premier League campaign and help United register their fourth win on the bounce, which would be the perfect birthday present. Malky Mackay on the other hand, has no real injury concerns and is expected to name a similar XI to the one that lost at Villa Park.

Given their inconsistent start to the campaign, if Cardiff manage to get anything out of this game, they would be really pleased. For Moyes however, nothing less than three points will do, as he hopes to put more pressure on League-leading Arsenal and if results go their way, close the gap to just two points. That would mark a huge turn around for Moyes and United will be hoping to keep their winning run going and return back to Manchester with victory safely secured.