Good Result for Bolton!

But they probably deserved the win.  Nemanja Vidic and Johnny Evans struggled against Johann Elmander and Kevin Davies, and Bolton had several opportunities to secure all three points.  The referee didn't allow Fergie time, the customary 47 additional minutes for Manchester United to steal an undeserved victory, because Bolton was showing more of a threat, and the added time would have been a disadvantage for Mr. Ferguson and his merry band of misfits.

Seriously, Manchester United's midfield is only occasionally impressive (because Paul Scholes is old, and can't perform in every match anymore), and they lack the depth to affect the game from the bench.  Stuart Holden bossed the game from the center of the park, and Lee Chung-yong, along with Martin Petrov, finally had the effect Bolton fans have been waiting for.

All in all, a good result for Bolton, a lucky point for United, and some momentum for the Wanderers heading into and important run of (winnable) fixtures.  There are worries (no home wins, a tendency to concede soft goals), but Bolton have seven points from six difficult games thus far, and their play is continuously improving and evolving as the squad becomes more comfortable with Owen Coyle's system.  Things are looking up.

Formation against Manchester United

Strange as it sounds, this may be a good time to play United for Bolton.  Just before a big Champions League match-up, teams can be distracted from the job at hand.  And United have a big one at Valencia on Wednesday night.  Alex Ferguson may decide to rest some players against Bolton, which has proved disastrous in the not so distant past.  But there is another reason I think Bolton could get a result here.

Wanderers strength, the midfield, especially central midfield, is Manchester United's weakness.  Either Scholes or Fletcher will be rested on Sunday, but Ferguson doesn't even have the personnel to rest both.  And the replacement will be Michael Carrick, who is useless.  Bolton can exploit this weakness, but I believe that to do so Owen Coyle will need to abandon his beloved 4-4-2.

Coyle will also need to switch around some players in the team, which he does usually seem willing to do, even after a good performance against Aston Villa (The performance against Burnley was not as good, but given the 8 changes that were made, it's not really relevant to the form of the first team).  I think he will have to go with a different formation to create the best match-ups against Manchester United.  Basically, a 4-1-2-3.

Everton v Manchester United

This match is interesting on many levels.  The English media is focusing on the Wayne Rooney circus, but I don't really care about that.  You see, Manchester United play Glasgow Rangers in the Champion's League next week, and I am sure Alex Ferguson would love to rest some players ahead of that match.  But Everton won this match last season, and they always play their best against big clubs.  It's not hard to imagine a scenario where Everton finally get their season started with a win and Manchester United get beat by overlooking an opponent.