MANCHESTER, England (AFP) - Cristiano Ronaldo will continue his quest to beat Denis Law's Manchester United scoring record as Sir Alex Ferguson's side attempt to move one step closer to the English Premier League title when Aston Villa visit Old Trafford on Saturday.
Sitting five points clear of second-placed Chelsea with seven games remaining - and with a trip to Stamford Bridge looming in late April - United will tighten their grip on the title race if they beat a Villa side still hoping to qualify for Europe.
But for Ronaldo there is the additional incentive of surpassing Law's club record mark of 46 goals in a single campaign if the Portugese can maintain his current rich vein of scoring form.
A goal in last week's 3-0 victory over Liverpool took his tally to 34, including 25 goals in 25 league starts.
United face at least nine more games this season but that figure could rise to 13 if they go all the way to the Champions League final, boosting the player's chances of rewriting the record books.
John O'Shea believes his teammate's remarkable success from free-kicks outside the penalty means Portugal winger Ronaldo is certain to continue to feature on the scoresheet for the rest of the campaign.
"He spends a lot of time working on his free-kicks after training," said the Republic of Ireland international. "But it's not as if he needs to work too much more on them.
"He's got to the point where he's consistently hitting the target and the swerve he generates means goalkeepers don't know which way it's going.
"We've seen keepers just hold their hands up and admit defeat because they don't know how to deal with them. Maybe we'll see teams employ some new tactics in order to try and stop him.
"We might see a team form a wall and also put a player on the line. At the moment, a wall on its own just isn't enough."
Attempting to halt Ronaldo will be Villa keeper Scott Carson, fit again after withdrawing from the England squad for the midweek friendly with France.
Carson's form has come under the spotlight following mistakes against Portsmouth and Sunderland but manager Martin O'Neill is backing his player to ride out his recent dip in form.
"There's not a player who has ever played professional football at any stage who has been consistent in every game they have played," O'Neill said. "We as a football team just have to improve to win a game."
O'Neill will recall Sweden international Olof Mellberg in place of the suspended right-back Craig Gardner despite the Juventus-bound player's public comments about Villa's limited chances of success.
And the manager remains convinced his side can overcome a poor run that has seen them fail to win in four games.
"No-one has been able to produce anything recently," said O'Neill.
"Everton have only picked up one point from two games at a time when they were challenging Liverpool, who themselves have just been beaten by Manchester United.
"We're still trying to look after ourselves and, if we can do that, we'll still be up there at the end of the season.
"We've got seven games left, we're on 49 points, which means we're not a phenomenal distance away from the other teams and it's still worth chasing."
article source:www.soccernews.com
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Sitting five points clear of second-placed Chelsea with seven games remaining - and with a trip to Stamford Bridge looming in late April - United will tighten their grip on the title race if they beat a Villa side still hoping to qualify for Europe.
But for Ronaldo there is the additional incentive of surpassing Law's club record mark of 46 goals in a single campaign if the Portugese can maintain his current rich vein of scoring form.
A goal in last week's 3-0 victory over Liverpool took his tally to 34, including 25 goals in 25 league starts.
United face at least nine more games this season but that figure could rise to 13 if they go all the way to the Champions League final, boosting the player's chances of rewriting the record books.
John O'Shea believes his teammate's remarkable success from free-kicks outside the penalty means Portugal winger Ronaldo is certain to continue to feature on the scoresheet for the rest of the campaign.
"He spends a lot of time working on his free-kicks after training," said the Republic of Ireland international. "But it's not as if he needs to work too much more on them.
"He's got to the point where he's consistently hitting the target and the swerve he generates means goalkeepers don't know which way it's going.
"We've seen keepers just hold their hands up and admit defeat because they don't know how to deal with them. Maybe we'll see teams employ some new tactics in order to try and stop him.
"We might see a team form a wall and also put a player on the line. At the moment, a wall on its own just isn't enough."
Attempting to halt Ronaldo will be Villa keeper Scott Carson, fit again after withdrawing from the England squad for the midweek friendly with France.
Carson's form has come under the spotlight following mistakes against Portsmouth and Sunderland but manager Martin O'Neill is backing his player to ride out his recent dip in form.
"There's not a player who has ever played professional football at any stage who has been consistent in every game they have played," O'Neill said. "We as a football team just have to improve to win a game."
O'Neill will recall Sweden international Olof Mellberg in place of the suspended right-back Craig Gardner despite the Juventus-bound player's public comments about Villa's limited chances of success.
And the manager remains convinced his side can overcome a poor run that has seen them fail to win in four games.
"No-one has been able to produce anything recently," said O'Neill.
"Everton have only picked up one point from two games at a time when they were challenging Liverpool, who themselves have just been beaten by Manchester United.
"We're still trying to look after ourselves and, if we can do that, we'll still be up there at the end of the season.
"We've got seven games left, we're on 49 points, which means we're not a phenomenal distance away from the other teams and it's still worth chasing."
article source:www.soccernews.com
