Manchester United remain in stupendous home form at Old Trafford and they should progress to the last eight of the Champions League on Tuesday with ease.
The Red Devils, winners of this competition in 1999 and 2008, host Marseille with the tie delicately poised but the French side are inferior in just about every department and United can prevail.
Sir Alex Ferguson saw his side play out an extremely forgettable goalless draw at the Stade Velodrome three weeks ago and, while that result away from home can often spell trouble, the Scot wont have been worried by what he saw from Didier Deschamps’ men.
Marseille offered very little in attack that night, visiting goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar was rarely, if at all, troubled, and teams have struggled to break down United at Old Trafford all season.
Back-to-back away defeats at Chelsea and Liverpool have dented the Old Trafford club’s Premier League title hopes but they have swept all before them in front of their own fans over the past nine months and I am expecting more of the same on Tuesday.
A comfortable 2-0 win over Arsenal in the FA Cup on Saturday evening means Sir Alex will be dreaming once again of a famous treble and Marseille, far from prolific in a substandard renewal of the French Ligue 1, should pose little threat.
Ferguson coped without several first team regulars in that win over the Gunners but he should be able to call upon the likes of Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs on Tuesday and it will have encouraged the manager that Wayne Rooney showed plenty of his old spark in helping his team get the better of the London side.
While United will always carry a threat going forward the form of Nemanja Vidic this season has been crucial to their success and his blossoming partnership with Chris Smalling in defence, in Rio Ferdinand’s absence, has been key.
Vidic, now the Manchester United captain, has flourished this term and it is his presence that makes me believe the home team are decent value at odds against to win without conceding, something they’ve done in six of their last nine matches in the north-west.
Any victory will, of course, be good enough for United to advance but that eventuality should be snapped up at 2.20 with Paddy Power and I can see this being a fairly comfortable night for Vidic and friends.
2pts Back Man Utd (To win to nil, vs. Marseille) @ 2.20 (Paddy Power)