The Red Devils will travel to Turkey to take on Galatasaray for their penultimate Champions League group match on Tuesday.
Manchester United won the reverse fixture 1-0 at Old Trafford in their opening game in Europe this season and have gone on to win the other three matches in the group to give them a 100% record, a record they will be looking to keep, even with qualification as group winners guaranteed.
United have opted to leave some of their more experienced players in Manchester, as they look to break in some of the younger members of the team, including Nick Powell, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Scott Wootton, David Petrucci and Marnick Vermijl.
Sir Alex Ferguson will be looking for his team to bounce back from their weekend defeat to Norwich, in which they looked devoid of real attacking intent with their star man Wayne Rooney side lined with a knock to his ankle picked up against Aston Villa.
Aside from the defeat at Norwich, United have looked like they are finally getting into top gear. With recent win against Arsenal and Chelsea in the Premier League, one concern the manager will still have is the amount of goals his side are conceding, telling his defence to toughen up and to stop getting bullied by the opposition.
Manchester United: Last Five Results
Norwich 1 – 0 Manchester United
Aston Villa 2 – 3 Manchester United
Braga 1 – 3 Manchester United
Manchester United 2 – 1 Arsenal
Chelsea 5 – 4 Manchester United
Galatasaray's only loss from their last five games came last Friday, where they lost 3 – 1 against League rivals Karabukspor. Apart from that one defeat the Turkish side have been in good form, winning three and drawing the remaining match of that five-game stint.
Galatasaray: Last Five Results
Galatasaray 1 – 3 Karabukspor
Mersin Idmanyurdu 1 – 1 Galatasaray
CFR Cluj-Napoca 1 – 3 Galatasaray
Istanbul Buyuksehir BSK 1 – 3 Galatasaray
Galatasaray 3 – 0 Kayserispor
The two teams have previously met a total of five times. Galatasaray beat United on away goals in the 1993/94 second round after a 3-3 aggregate draw. All the scoring came in the Old Trafford first leg as Bryan Robson and Reinhard Stumpf's own goal put United ahead, before Galatasaray replied through Arif Erdem, Steve Bruce's own goal and Kubilay Türkyilmaz. Eric Cantona made it 3-3 in the 80th minute for a home team including Ryan Giggs.
Giggs and Mike Phelan, now United's assistant manager, played in the 0-0 draw in the second leg. Giggs featured again, with Paul Scholes on the bench, when the clubs played out another stalemate in Istanbul in the 1994/95 group stage. United won the return 4-0.
Prediction:
Galatasaray 1 – 1 Manchester United
I think United's youngsters will struggle away in a hostile environment, although they'll still give a good account of themselves, perhaps a glimpse at the future for United? Nick Powell to score a screamer from 30 yards and an equalizer from Burak Yilmaz.
Source: DSG
