Anything Blue can do

Bad news for Birmingham... Paul Merson says Man Utd will match anything Chelsea did.

Champions will blow Blues away to match Chelsea, says Merse

I am not going to start doubting Sir Alex Ferguson, but I do worry what Manchester United will do without Cristiano Ronaldo. For a start you are talking about a winger who gets 30-odd goals a season - and not just the third or fourth, he used to get the first goals, equalisers and winners. Antonio Valencia might be alright, but he isn't going to match that, not in a million years. What Ronaldo also gave United was that ability to produce something out of nothing. That was crucial, especially at Old Trafford where teams regularly put nine men behind the ball. I can see Birmingham doing that, and Valencia will be right under the spotlight. No disrespect to Wigan, but he could play for them, try his flicks and tricks, lose the game 1-0, and come off and no-one would really bat an eyelid. At a massive club like United, he will have to perform in every game and everyone will be looking at him, waiting to see if he can fill Ronaldo's boots. The same goes for Dimitar Berbatov. I really do think this is make-or-break for him at United. And I am not talking about this season, I am talking about the next six weeks. At Tottenham he was the same player, but now he's at United people expect more. As soon as his body language is wrong and it's not coming off, the crowd will be right on his back. But having said that, in the first half of the Community Shield I thought he and Wayne Rooney looked outstanding, sharp, a real handful. Alex McLeish will have seen it too and for Birmingham, this will be one of those park-the-bus jobs. McLeish is a good manager and above all, he's not stupid. He will know they can't take on United shot-for-shot, so the best they can do is keep men behind the ball, hope for a break, a set-piece and hope they can get lucky. It's true they have nothing to lose, but don't think for a minute Old Trafford is a good place to go and play on the first day of the season when you've just been promoted. It's never a good place to go! Chelsea playing on the Saturday makes Birmingham's job even harder. United will want to match what they do and make people like me, who think this is Chelsea's year, eat my words. It will be a case of anything you can do, we can do better. But it won't be here where Birmingham survive - if they do. McLeish has spent a lot of money, but I have to say I am not overly-impressed with his signings. Scotty Dann is a lad I gave a debut to at Walsall and I think he might be a yard short of pace for the Premier League, Roger Johnson is unproven at this level and Barry Ferguson? We'll have to wait and see. Up front, I'll wait to see Christian Benitez in action, but what Birmingham need is someone to produce something out of absolutely nothing, when they are under the cosh. This Saturday would be a nice place to start, but I can't see it. PAUL'S PREDICTION
Home win - Whatever Chelsea do against Hull, I expect United to do the same 24 hours later. It will be a case of when, not if, they break Birmingham down and I'm going for 4-0.