Charlton Athletic Online

Manchester United arrive at The Valley tomorrow, for one of Charlton's biggest games of the season. Alan Curbishley's team need a win - the good form at the start of the season now seems a distant memory, and slipping down to eighth place in the Premiership table has dented confidence. Home form is also pretty poor - just the win against Wigan to show so far from five games, and this area needs to be turned around as soon as possible to quell discord amongst fans.

Curbishley (above) has been dispelling the rumours linking him with the forthcoming managerial vacancy at Rangers which are not going away as quickly as fans would hope. Martin Simons, Richard Murray, and today Curbs himself have denied any firm contact between Rangers and Charlton regarding this matter.

The team that lost the last match at Blackburn will see a couple of changes; Jon Spector is unavailable due to loan club arrangements, so the choice at left back is between Chris Powell (in a straight swap) or Hermann Hreidersson being moved across with (probably) Talal El Karkouri being brought in at centre half to pair with Chris Perry. I suspect that Powell will be given another run out, with the Moroccan on the bench again. England's number two Luke Young will play at right back and captain the team.

In midfield, the indications are that Alexei Smertin is fit once more, so he will automatically return at the expense of Ewood Park goalscorer Bryan Hughes. Kishishev and Murphy will make up the middle three. Out wide, Dennis Rommedahl will play on the right and Darren Ambrose on the left; Jerome Thomas has a hamstring injury picked up with the U21's and will be out for another week or two.

Leading the line will be Darren Bent (left), fresh from a great goal for the England U21's in France.

Most speculation, however, will be centred on who goes in goal. With all three first team keepers fit and healthy, incumbent Stephan Andersen will be hoping to keep his starting place despite conceding goals in his last six matches. However, Dean Kiely and Thomas Myrhe are both desperate for a starting spot; Deano is fit after the broken finger he picked up in pre-season has healed, and Myrhe will be hoping for some cheer after Norway lost their World Cup play off matches, and wanting to make a mark at the club before his contract runs out at the end of the year. I believe that this will be Andersen's last chance, and any further blip's on his record like the first goal conceded at Blackburn will see Deano pulled back into the team.

The starting eleven I expect to see take the field is:
Andersen, Young, Perry, Hreidersson, Powell, Smertin, Kishishev, Murphy, Rommedahl, Ambrose, Bent. Subs: Kiely, Hughes, Holland, El Karkouri, Bothroyd.

United have slowly moved up the league, passing Charlton, after a slow start; they have been hit by injuries quite badly (Keane, Giggs, Neville, Heinze), but the team they field will still be strong. Wayne Rooney will play, and Ruud van Nistelrooy is expected to feature if his rib injury clears up in time. Rio Ferdinand will return to south London once more, and the defence he plays with looks solid on paper (Silvestre, Brown, O'Shea). Cristiano Ronaldo, Alan Smith, Darren Fletcher, and Paul Scholes should also feature. Edwin van der Sar will play in goal.

Trying to be positive, this United team is very beatable; the midfield is weaker than ever before, the forwards (barring Rooney) lack confidence and form, and the defence was hit for four in their last away game at Boro. Van der Sar had a nightmare last time he played at the Valley (for Fulham, as JJ will well remember!) and pressure on his kicking needs to be applied. If Smertin can wrestle control of the middle of the park, and the defence stays solid then a first Premiership win against United could be won. Bent and Rommedahl need to maintain their confidence even though they will find the going tough up front against the pace of Ferdinand, Silvestre, and Brown.

My one to watch picks this season have not usually done the business, so for a change I'm going to pick an opposition player in the hope that my jinx transfers across to him - Wayne Rooney (left), all eyes will be on you tomorrow!

Pedro45's score predictions have been better than my ones-to-watch, but still not good enough. I'm hoping for an upturn in form, atmosphere and results tomorrow and will go for a 2-0 home win! Come on you Reds!