Swansea v Man United: Rooney to shrug dive criticism to one side

Wayne Rooney hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons when taking a tumble against Preston last time out.

However, while the penalty decision was dubious to say the least Rooney’s taking of it was anything but and after ending his nine-game barren spell the England man will be keen to keep the scoring habit alive.

United head to the Liberty Stadium as the evens favourites to claim all three points, with the draw on at 5/2 and a victory for the hosts available at 3/1.

Ladbrokes News has scoured the markets, however, and feels there is better value to be had so read on for our three best bets for this Saturday 3pm kick off – remember them?

Manchester United to win and BTTS @ 3/1

For all the column inches dedicated to the so-called crisis at Old Trafford the Red Devils have now lost just one of their last 19 games in all competitions.

The club sits in the top four and have a sixth-round FA Cup tie with Arsenal to look forward to. Swansea have won just one of their last six matches and just one of five  Premier League ties in front of their own fans.

However, while a United win looks the most likely outcome, Louis van Gaal’s side have conceded in four of their last five matches so expect both sides to get on the scoresheet.

Wayne Rooney to score first @ 11/2

As mentioned above Rooney was gifted a chance to end his lean spell in the FA Cup and he accepted it with both hands. Despite being deployed in a midfield role for most of the season the talismanic United captain has still netted 15 goals for club and country this term.

And with Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao yet to gel Rooney could be asked to use that penalty as a springboard for more goals in the coming games.

Ki Sung-Yueng to score first @ 16/1

OK, so only one player can score the first goal of the game but there’s no harm in covering yourself and Ki offers great value once the stats are considered.

With Wilfried Bony no longer in the picture the South Korean is the joint top scorer at the club with four Premier League goals.

That may not the most impressive number, but with 100 per cent of those goals coming first in games 16/1 seems too big a price to ignore.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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