4. David Silva vs. Michael Carrick
In short, if Silva is allowed to pull the strings in midfield, United will find themselves chasing shadows. He is very possibly the greatest floating attacking midfielder in the Premier League at the minute, and he has it in him to dictate games from his advanced position. Luckily for United, in Michael Carrick they have a man in form - he has been Mr Consistent so far this season, and it will be his task to make sure Silva has neither the time nor space to wave his magic wand and unlock the United defence. He will need to be disciplined, sticking to his man and not allowing the Spaniard to drift unchecked towards the wings, and equally not being pulled too far out of the centre to make space for Yaya Toure to exploit, thus forcing Wayne Rooney to play too defensively. The two are physically mismatched and if Carrick announces his presence with a couple of strong tackles, Silva might well lose his confidence, though he must be used to being kicked by now.