United have got off to a good start to the season. We have suffered one defeat to Burnley and a draw to Sunderland, other than that we have won every single game we have played in all competitions. With a win tonight, United could be all but qualified for the next round of the Champions League.
Tonight Man United take on CSKA Moscow in the group stages of the Champions League. The match will take place on a plastic pitch in the Luzhniki Stadium, the last time we were at this stadium; United won the Champions League against Chelsea.
United are without five key players for this game- Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Patrice Evra, Ji-Sung Park and Darren Fletcher didn’t fly to Russia. Only Evra has a good chance of making the Liverpool game this Sunday.
Dimitar Berbatov and Nemanja Vidic are both doubtful for tonight’s game but they did travel to Moscow so there is a slight chance that they could play.
Gabriel Obertan isn’t quite ready to join up with the first team squad but he has made an impressive start to his United career after playing for the reserves.
Man United squad: Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Foster; Neville, Rafael, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Brown, J Evans, Fabio; Valencia, Scholes, Carrick, C Evans, Anderson, Nani; Owen, Berbatov, Macheda, Welbeck.
CSKA striker Guilherme is expected to be out for both meetings against United after picking up a thigh injury last weekend. They will also be without midfielder Mark Gonzalez who is out for the rest of the season, after picking up an ankle injury whilst playing for his country.
CSKA have had some good news, defender Vasily Berezutski has recovered from an illness and he did take part in training.
United may be playing on a plastic pitch but it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. United like to play fast, slick football and this pitch may allow them to do that. It will be a tough game and we are without some of our key players but I still expect a United win.
Predicted Man United line-up: Edwin Van Der Sar; Gary Neville, Nemanja Vidic, Jonny Evans, John O’Shea; Antonio Valencia, Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick, Luis Nani; Michael Owen and Dimitar Berbatov.
Predicted scoreline: CSKA Moscow 1-2 Manchester United
