Okay, okay that’s the last time I’ll use the KA-POWELL picture as the header for one of these prediction posts – unless he does actually score, of course. Then I guess that buys me at least another five posts, right?! Good.

Got a feeling Nick Powell will play – after making the bench against Arsenal – and have a really strong feeling he will score (just remember I’m the one who predicted a repeat of the 8-2).  Fletcher won’t be the thing to build the midfield on and so I think we’ll definitely play three in there … one of the other two being Anderson (who’s looking #deeeeccceeeennntttt as Rio might have perhaps once said, maybe). Why I’m predicting line-ups escapes me. We will be resting players, that’s for sure (with that in mind: was surprised to see Will Keane go out on loan this week). Danny to start and bust the onion bag with a couple of beauties – cus I said so.

Braga showed at OT what they’re capable of and I expect more of the same. Would be nice to really start turning the screw (or whatever clever people say) in this competition, but can’t see it with the group all but sewn up.

(Hopefully, Fletcher not joining the squad is because he’s going to be involved against Villa, and not the other.)

Prediction: 2-3

Goals: Powell, Welbeck 2

Iwan: (@Iwanlehnert)

It’s impossible to look back on Sunday afternoon’s match without focussing on the allegations raised by Chelsea regarding Mark Clattenburg, so let’s deal with it now. If the FA are truly serious about combating racism in our country, Clattenburg (if he hasn’t already) should be suspended from refereeing football matches at any level until the investigation is concluded. They’ve acted swiftly by releasing a statement intimating that this is already under way, but the challenge now is to react to these allegations purposefully and swiftly. If they’ve learnt anything from dealing with Terry and Suarez, then the FA will know how important it is not to let this incident and the subsequent investigation dominate the back pages for the coming months. If found guilty, Mark Clattenburg should never referee another football match. And I’m done.

Now, hands up how many United fans feel truly bad for Chelsea after Clattenburg’s decisions? I’m sure some do, but to be frank, we’ve been rogered out of points at Stamford Bridge often enough that whilst there’s some (a tiny) measure of sympathy after Clattenburg incorrectly killed the game off with the second red card, I’ll certainly not be getting down on bended knee humbling begging forgiveness for winning. United looked hungry, well-organised and purposeful for half an hour before Chelsea came back into it and were it not for those red cards, I wasn’t sure we would raise ourselves to take the lead again. Certainly wasn’t looking that way until Young broke free, anyway. Regardless, a win’s a win’s a win, and it’s a great result against the best team in the league at the moment.

With Arsenal very pointedly on the horizon on Saturday lunchtime and midweek appointment in Braga a few days afterwards, there is approximately a 2.7% chance of seeing the same side line-up on Wednesday night as we saw at the weekend (barring an outbreak of very specifically-targeted food poisoning). This is the type of match that Buttner, Anderson, Welbeck, Hernandez (as he won’t start on Saturday) and Fletcher could really use, and a chance for some combination of Vermijl, Keane and Wootton to get a game. The former looked very impressive against Newcastle last month, and it’ll be a valuable game for everyone that starts. We’d all love United to win and get through to the next round, and it could be a great tie, but if we lose, the apocalypse won’t come knocking.

Brett:

This game has come way to soon after the weekend – especially in light of all the controversy surrounding the allegations made against Mark Clattenburg. We’re heading for a real life fright night, befitting of the fixture’s Halloween date. The hangover from the boiling tensions of Sunday – regardless of personnel changes – I’m convinced, can only mean one thing … more flash points.

I think our squad is capable of dealing with wholesale changes, but then Chelsea’s is by no means weak and if anything they do suit winning the cup this year, what with it being sponsored by that evil credit card company and all (LOL?!?!?!).

I always find talking about League Cup games in advance tough, because it’s difficult to judge what kind of team we’re going to put out. Fergie has been fielding fairly strong sides in it this season, maybe it’s just that our squad is much stronger.

It’s going to be a humdinger in League Cup terms – let’s hope we can enjoy it without too many talking points rearing their ugly heads.

Prediction: Win on pens. 2-2 (aet)

Goals: Danny, Ashley Young

Iwan: (@Iwanlehnert)

We’re all about the trepidation at the minute. On the one hand, our defence couldn’t catch a one-legged dodo lately, but on the other, more confident, cooler hand, we’re knocking in goals with the kind of suave confidence normally reserved specifically for The Fonz (I believe he is still the definition of ‘cool’, and until I am told otherwise, I will not alter this thinking). Point is, going forward, we’ve looked good. There might be a temptation to put our most dazzling forward combination out on Sunday but Chelsea are, simply put, better than Braga, and if we gave them a 2-0 lead, or even a 3-0 lead, you’d expect them to hold onto it. Nope, that’s a lead that you just don’t let slip, no matter what state you’re in. What kind of side throws away a three goal lead, eh? Madness.

Di Matteo has carried on the great work he started last season and has a solid, well-drilled and organised side sitting four points clear at the top of the table. Chelsea never make things easy when United visit, and there won’t be any radical change to this at the weekend. Cahill and Luiz can be good enough to make Terry’s absence unnoticeable; whether they will be is a different story. Juan Mata has been superb so far, and even with Torres sporadically misfiring and Sturridge looking short of being a decent alternative, they look strong, which hasn’t been the case for a while.

If this were at home, then the same front three for the Braga game should start again. Playing that diamond formation at Chelsea at Stamford Bridge could be a recipe for disaster called Home Win Fruitcake, or it could work tremendously well depending on how much of the ball we can snag near the opposing penalty area. Erring on the side of caution, I’d go back to something approaching a 4-4-2 considering that we’re dealing with a team capable of scoring more goals than any we’ve faced so far this season. This is the sort of game where Hernandez could be invaluable to bring on late if the match is finely poised, because he’s so good at exploiting space. He was superb against Braga but I wouldn’t start him ahead of Rooney or van Persie given their records against Chelsea.  With creaky defences and quality forwards, I’m expecting something between phenomenal or a slugfest. I will settle for a phenomenal slugfest. Can’t wait.

Prediciton: A somewhat more conventional formation, one goal where Niall Quinn (if he’s co-commentating) laments “ooh, you’ve just got to do better there” and some sort of Terry chant that will almost definitely upset the entirety of Stamford Bridge. Hopefully, 1-2. Pessimistically, 2-1. Pacifistically, 0-0.

Brett:

I’ve done a lot more talking on these ‘pre’ and ‘post’ match thingy-me-bobs than I planned to this season and so with nothing more to add, – to the more serious , or sillier general and personal issues I have with the team and squad – I’m just going to sit back and enjoy what will be the biggest and potentially most amazing game of the season so far.

After this we can assess where we really are.

p.s Message to Iwan: Anymore pessimism and you’re toast

Prediction: 1-2

Goals: Rooney, RVP.

Iwan: (@Iwanlehnert)

That was probably as routine as a come-from-behind victory gets, to be honest. Braga started positively and took advantage of some shocking (now standard) defending, scored two goals, and then we started playing. To be honest, I can’t admit to being humongously worried at 0-2, because I was pretty confident that chances would come. At the minute, we’re blessed with such quality going forward that we’re going to create opportunities; it’s just simply a case of who is lucky enough to get on the end of them. As arrogant as that sounds, there’s a lot of weight behind it considering that our goals-to-game ratio is over 2:1 at the minute. Even better that one of the most enthusiastic and hard-working players I’ve ever seen scored twice.

I’ll admit it, I was genuinely worried that Hernandez was going to end up surplus to requirements once Van Persie arrived in the summer, and that he’d get frozen out like…..wait, what’s his name…..Beebop? Last night doesn’t suddenly propel him into the status of an immediate starter, but much like he did two years ago, Hernandez has shown that if presented with a decent chance, he’ll score. His positional play is nothing short of awesome, and he’s probably the best natural finisher at the club. Welbeck, as good as he has been, has been guilty of spurning some decent chances this season, and on a night where we had to come from behind for the umpteenth time, that sort of lethal edge is priceless. Of course, if Cleverley can cross like that consistently then we’ll be laughing after every match. Thing of beauty, it was.

There was a worry that Ferguson was already looking beyond Braga by taking Ferdinand and Evra out of the starting XI and potentially weakening the team, and it almost backfired terribly. Still, criticising our defending is like kicking a table; anyone can do it, it’s pointless and it doesn’t seem to make a bloody bit of difference how ever many times you do it, no one pays any attention. They need to sharpen up, and the boss knows it. We won’t beat better teams in this competition if we decide to gift them a two goal advantage, and the boss knows that too. Chelsea are up next and unless we desperately want to slip seven points off the pace, we need to buckle up from the first minute. I’m still waiting to see a fix for this issue like the rest of you, and I’m hoping it comes soon. The way our forwards are playing at the minute just makes things seem a little brighter though, eh?

Moment of the night: Hernandez’s winner, swiftly followed by repeated use of the word ‘Gaffer’ in the post-match ITV interview. He is, quite simply, the most endearing human being alive

Brett:

I got over my existential crisis fairly quickly in the end – such is the nature of talking a lot of nonsense for what sometimes seems like the sake of it (What?!). If anyone sees me tweeting during games please do something – a couple of levels down from shooting me – like, call me a name, or something. I promised myself I wouldn’t do it. I’m really bad at it; a) my internet connection is terrible and b) It’s distracting from what’s actually going on. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy seeing what other’s have to say, especially the silly things, but I end up not watching the game. What’s the use in that?!

I’ve not felt so comfortable during a game when we’re trailing 0-2 in a long, long time – I just couldn’t see us not coming back into it. I didn’t feel like we were playing awful – Kagawa aside – and was relatively pleased with much of what I saw. Braga are no mugs, Carrick is no defender and Wootton and Booottner are not experienced, so it stands to reason bad things will happen. They did. We got over it. Get over it.

Was great to see Chicha getting amongst the goals and more importantly showing that tenacity (and getting the break of the ball) that seemed to have deserted him recently. Very brilliant in fact. Was also great to see Rooney looking a little bit more like what we expect. Still a way to go, but I feel the signs are good there. RVP is wonderful. Fletcher is plateuxing

MOTM: Giggsy – For his 12 seconds of  mentalness, the like of which will never be seen again, nor should be. BUT extraordinary all the same, and when do you take me seriously anyway?

“Smile, it might never happen.”

Iwan: (@Iwanlehnert)

So far in Group H, Braga have gone from the ignominy of a 2-0 defeat to Cluj despite having over twenty shots on goal to a morale-boosting victory in Istanbul in, which is hardly the simplest of tasks. They’re clearly capable and will attempt to exploit what will surely be a less experienced defence without Ferdinand and Evra. Given that Fletcher took no part on Saturday, a home game in the Champions League is the perfect test of his fitness and ability on this level. He’ll come under pressure because Braga, like so many before them will want to make a good account of themselves at Old Trafford, and without an experienced head, the defence will need some decent protection.

That defence looked wobbly on a few occasions at the weekend, especially for Kightly’s goal. He should never have been allowed to run at goal like that without being properly challenged, and it was a cheap goal to give away considering how thoroughly in control United were.

When this year’s Champions League campaign kicked off against Galatasaray, I was hoping for an emphatic, grandiose and thoroughly statement-making response after last season’s frequent calamities. But after two wins by single goal margins, forget it. Considering that we fell well short in both the result and performance department last season, I’ll happily keep on taking slim results if it gets us to the last 16. The performances can follow because the team’s confidence when playing in Europe needs to be rebuilt. Three wins from three would definitely be welcome, however they come.

All in all, United have responded pretty well since the Spurs defeat. Ferguson has probably looked at tonight’s match as somewhat less important than Sunday afternoon’s visit to Stamford Bridge, hence giving a few of our older defenders a rest (that notion of playing our strongest XI in Europe lasted long, then…). That’s all gravy; squad rotation needs to happen, and Ferdinand and Evra are not the springiest of chickens, but those picked to start tonight hopefully won’t be expecting an easy evening and cast a wandering eye on Chelsea. If they are, they should be made to watch replays of both Basle games from last season as punishment.

Brett:

I know I told us to “ill”, but it struck me just this second (as I started writing)  that we’re in imminent danger of slipping into the same trap as last season of not taking the competition seriously at this stage. I say this because there’s definitely an air of Braga being a formality, however they beat Galatasaray 2-0 away, and we know Galatasaray are no push-overs.

I don’t think we will lose – if we were away, maybe  – but I’m certainly not confident.

It’s great that Kagawa will be playing (not just cus I’m watching the game), and Fletcher should get another ninety minutes (when does he make the next step?). With either Lindegaard or De Gea in goal we’ll be okay in that department too. Unlike me, I’m concerned with everywhere else, because I’m concerned that the team we’ll be putting out won’t be equipped to deal with the opposition’s potential threat. Maybe it’s just the strange Rio/Fergie fall out/not fall out fall out. Maybe it’s just because Rio’s tweet I read this morning has sent me into an existential crisis *Never believe everything u read* Does that mean we CAN believe eveything we read – you know what I’m saying?! I just feel uneasy.

Prediction: 2-1

Goals: Kagawa and Fletcher (Aren’t I imaginitive)