Manchester United (3rd) VS West Bromwich Albion (6th)

Manchester United have not won for two matches and take on in-form West Bromwich Albion who currently lie in sixth place.

Manchester united team news

Ryan Giggs is expected to return to Manchester United's squad for the Barclays Premier League match with West Brom at Old Trafford.

Giggs missed two fixtures with a minor hamstring strain but has now recovered and should be involved as United bid to resurrect their title aspirations.

It is also anticipated Wayne Rooney will be recalled.

WEST BROM TEAM NEWS

West Brom could be without Barclays Premier League player of the month Peter Odemwingie for their match against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Striker Odemwingie is struggling to recover from a knee strain, sustained during the Baggies' 1-1 draw against Bolton Wanderers.

Midfielder Jerome Thomas is also a doubt, having missed the Bolton match with a calf injury. Head coach Roberto Di Matteo reported that all of his players involved in international matches have returned unscathed.

SQUADS

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Kuszczak, O'Shea, Brown, Rafael, Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Smalling, Evans, Evra, Fabio, Nani, Obertan, Scholes, Fletcher, Carrick, Gibson, Anderson, Park, Giggs, Rooney, Berbatov, Owen, Macheda, Hernandez.

West Brom: Carson, Olsson, Ibanez, Morrison, Barnes, Bednar, Brunt, Reid, Myhill, Fortune, Dorrans, Shorey, Thomas, Mulumbu, Zuiverloon, Meite, Odemwingie, Fortune, Tchoyi, Scharner, Tamas, Cox, Downing, Sawyers, Jara, Allsop, Kiely.

Hargreaves ready for United return

Owen Hargreaves' surgeon has suggested the player could make his comeback on Saturday.


It is now over two years since Hargreaves started a meaningful senior match for the Red Devils after he was struck down by an acute form of tendinitis in his knees, which he first experienced during his time at Bayern Munich.
Two operations and an extensive period of rehabilitation seemed to have put the 29-year-old back on track by the end of last season, when he completed 45 minutes in a reserve match and was then introduced as an injury-time substitute at Sunderland as United challenged for the Barclays Premier League title.

Yet the midfielder's hopes of being fit for the start of this season were wrecked when he experienced more discomfort after his return to training, and he was dispatched back to Colorado by Sir Alex Ferguson for more work with Dr Richard Steadman, who has built his reputation rescuing the careers of people like Ruud van Nistelrooy, who have ruptured cruciate ligaments.

Hargreaves is aware there cannot be many more attempts to salvage his career, and knew his return to England would probably represent his last try.

Ferguson: Chat helped Berbatov

Sir Alex Ferguson feels an early season chat has helped get the best out of Dimitar Berbatov.

The Manchester United striker has started the season in fantastic form with six goals in his first seven league matches.

The Bulgarian arrived in the summer of 2008 from Tottenham Hotspur, but struggled to live up to expectations prior to the current campaign.

Now he is starting to deliver Ferguson maintains that he had little doubt that Berbatov just needed time to find his confidence.

"I just had a word with him at the start of the campaign," said Ferguson.

"I told him: 'Look, only you can solve this conundrum. You're the one in control here. You've got fantastic ability and you need to realise that ability and make the most of it. We'll be here to support you'.

"And he's started the season in terrific form for us. Dimitar has been, without doubt, our star forward."

Giggs tips Nani for the top

Ryan Giggs believes Nani has the potential to emulate Cristiano Ronaldo's achievements at Manchester United.

The Portuguese winger has followed in the footsteps of his illustrious countryman, moving to Old Trafford after learning his trade in the Sporting Lisbon academy ranks.

He has long been billed as a star of the future but has struggled at times to find consistency and provide the kind of goal threat required from wide-men in the modern game.

Nani, though, has started to step out of Ronaldo's shadow and veteran midfielder Giggs sees no reason why the 23-year-old cannot go on to become an all-time great - providing he continues to heed the advice of his peers.

"I think Nani is ready to step up to that next level now. He has always been a match-winner but he needs to do it consistently," Giggs said.

"This season he has already made seven or eight goals and scored a couple but he can do better as well and improve and there is more to come.

"He's definitely beginning to add something that perhaps we lacked since Cristiano left and he's filling that gap better now. Those strikes from outside the box and the type of run and goal we saw at Bolton recently show that he's got that in him.

"What he needs to do now is add more goals to his game. He needs to score 20 goals a season and make 20 goals. If he does that, and he is capable of it, that is all you can ask from a wide player.

"I am obviously one of the senior players here now and I speak to the wingers all the time about positional play. When they first come they probably don't know their defensive duties as well in 4-4-2.

"But I've played a lot of that and I understand what is needed from a player who plays out wide and has an attacking role. You speak to those in your position all the time and Nani is very good at listening to that kind of advice.

"I have experience to pass on to the younger players and I do that with Nani. He needs to get more composure in the final third but he is still relatively young and I am certain he will add more goals to his game."

Ferguson calls for killer instinct

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson wants his players to be more ruthless.

Ferguson feels his team have not been ruthless enough this season after watching them drop points in draws at Fulham, Everton, Sunderland and Bolton Wanderers.

And he has warned they cannot afford any further slip-ups as they bid to keep in touch with Chelsea at the top of the Barclays Premier League.

The champions are already five points clear of the Red Devils although Fergsuon believes the Blues have had an easier start.

Speaking to the club's official magazine, Inside United, Ferguson said: "This present team doesn't kill off sides as well as they should.

"At Goodison, we had three or four chances at 3-1 to really put the game out of sight, but we were wasteful and ultimately paid the price.

"We threw away two goals in injury-time. That's unthinkable.

"That killer instinct just isn't there at the moment and it's something we need to develop.

"We haven't had a problem scoring goals.

"We got three against Liverpool, Everton and West Ham, two away at Fulham, three in the Community Shield; that suggests we don't have difficulty finding the net.

"What we're not doing, though, is killing teams off.

"I have no doubt the players have taken these setbacks on board. They suffer just as much - if not more - than the rest of us.

"They're the ones throwing the points away and they're the ones who know fine well that they're good enough to win this league."

Ferguson optimistic over Rooney

Sir Alex Ferguson is crossing his fingers Wayne Rooney can keep his Manchester United absence to a minimum.

The England striker has been ruled out for two or three weeks with an ankle injury similar to the one he picked up in the first leg of last season's Champions League quarter-final with Bayern Munich.

Rooney returned within eight days of that and his manager is hoping he will make another speedy recovery.

The sharpshooter has scored just once for United since then, and he will not have the chance to do so again until at least 16th October after Ferguson confirmed Rooney faces a "two-to-three-week" spell on the sidelines with the injury he suffered at Bolton Wanderers on Sunday.

At the far edge of that timescale, Rooney would miss a Champions League meeting with Bursaspor and, potentially, the trip to Stoke City on 24th October.

Go Behind The Scenes With Manchester United Stars As The Red Devils Take To The Skies With Turkish Airlines

See Wayne Rooney and company taking part in the club's latest commercial...

Cramming 16 Manchester United superstars into a tight space is no easy feat but the club's partner Turkish Airlines pulled if off for their latest commercial. 

To celebrate the Red Devils' new three and a half year deal with Turkish Airlines the brand pulled out all the stops for the new advert which promotes their new business class concept. In order to shoot the advertisement the production crew built a full-sized passenger jet with 115 people working on the project which took over two months to complete!

Some of the Manchester United stars who took part include Wayne Rooney and Anderson who practiced his ball juggling skills on board the set. Club legend Bobby Charlton also participated and said; "For me Manchester United will always be the greatest football club in the world. The partnership with Turkish Airlines brings fans all around the world closer to the Club which is fantastic news." 

The advert, which will be shown in 80 countries around the world, is scheduled to go live on October 20th.

Manchester United Youngster Chris Smalling: Rio Ferdinand Is The Perfect Role Model

Manchester United new boy Chris Smalling has hailed the influence of Rio Ferdinand as he looks to improve as a center-back.

Smalling, 20, arrived for £10 million in the summer from Fulham after only a handful of Premier League appearances.

His potential was on show in his goalscoring start in the League Cup victory at Scunthorpe United and dominant displays for the England Under-21s, and the defender has spoke of the "real joy" of playing alongside the Three Lions' senior captain.

“The stature of the guy is something to look up to and he has been a real joy to be alongside," he said.

“Rio has built up that presence over the years. He is just very commanding. On the ball, he just gives you that composure.

"Whether he puts on that captain's armband or it is just in training, he is leading the team.

"I have had to pick up along the same way, because I am the eyes of the central midfielders and that is something I have been working on, and he has been helping me.

"Rio is great to play with, so is [Nemanja] Vidic, so I cannot be in a better atmosphere to be learning my trade."

Manchester United Standard Formation

1.  Edwin Van Der Sar  (Goalkeeper)
3.  Patrice Evra            (Defender)
5.  Rio Ferdinand          (Defender)
15.Nemanja Vidic         (Defender)
22.John O'shea            (Defender)
11.Ryan Giggs             (Midfielder)
16.Michael Carrick       (Midfielder)
17.Nani                       (Midfielder)
18.Paul Scholes           (Midfielder)
9.  Dimitar Berbatov      (Striker)
10.Wayne Rooney        (Striker)

Juventus Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon Denies Speculation Linking Him With Move To Manchester United

Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has refuted claims he is on his way out of Turin and heading for Manchester United.

The Italian International moved to the Bianconeri for a goalkeeping record transfer fee back in 2001 and reports have linked him with a move to Man United as a replacement for Edwin van der Saar when he retires.

But Buffon has came out and denied any rumours that this is the case.

"Buffon has nothing to decide", he told Sky Italia.

"I'm at the club's [Juventus'] disposal and they are the ones who will decide what will happen. I have a deal here until 2013.

"We are in October and it's too soon to face certain talks. There are still eight months of the season left.

"Manchester United are a really great side but they have never shown a direct interest. They are merely press rumors."