Dimitar Berbatov is set to be dropped from theManchester United team for Monday’s showdown against Arsenal.
The Bulgarian striker, who scored five goals in United’s last home Premier League match and is the division’s top scorer this season with 11 in 13 games, is expected to make way so Sir Alex Ferguson can field a 4-5-1 formation.
Wayne Rooney who has scored only one league goal this season, will spearhead the United attack as a lone frontman, with Anderson replacing Berbatov.
The Brazilian midfielder impressed in United’s 1-1 draw against Valencia last week and is pencilled in to make only his fourth league start of the season.
Ryan Giggs is also set to get the nod over Ji-Sung Park and Paul Scholes, who is recovering well from injury, and will return to the starting line-up after being on the sidelines since United’s Champions League win at Rangers on November 24.
Ferguson’s decision to leave out Berbatov for a home match is a surprise, even though the Bulgarian has had a curiously lop-sided season, scoring seven goals in all competitions by mid-September and then going more than two months without a goal before he plundered a record-equalling five against Blackburn Rovers 16 days ago.
Yet the United manager is poised to field a system that has served his team well in the marquee fixtures, particularly away from home, in recent years.
