Man Utd v Arsenal preview

Published: 29 Apr 2009 - 10:12:38

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A feast of fast, free flowing football awaits at Old Trafford as Manchester United host Arsenal in a UEFA Champions League semi-final first-leg that promises to be one of the games of the season. And you can watch it live on Sky Sports 2 & Sky Sports HD2. The two teams have never played against each other in the Champions League as the in-form Gunners look to put an end to United's quadruple hopes on Wednesday. Last season's penalty shootout win over Chelsea in the final in Moscow will be fresh in the memory for all of the Red Devils players, as they look to overcome one of their oldest rivals and go on to become the first team to retain the trophy since its inception in 1992. The ferocious touchline battles and the persistent mind games between Messrs Ferguson and Wenger may now be a thing of the past, but both managers will be hoping that their team's performances on the field can steal the headlines. Arsenal have tasted the flip side of reaching a Champions League final. The North Londoners narrowly lost 2-1 to Barcelona after going down to 10 men early on in the 2006 final in Paris. Painful experienceWenger will be hoping that the six current players who were in the match-day squad three years ago will use the painful experience to drive the rest on to victory against United. Ferguson has stressed the importance of his side securing a clean-sheet to take to Emirates Stadium and added that he would be 'delighted' with a slender 1-0 win. Despite their manager's warning the holders can take comfort in the fact that they overcame Porto in the quarter-finals after conceding two away goals in a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, before going on to win 1-0 in the return leg. Meanwhile Arsenal breezed past Villarreal 4-1 on aggregate in their last-eight tie and are completely transformed from the inconsistent side that was on display earlier this term - with the club currently 20 Premier League games unbeaten. The two sides have met only once this season but over the coming weeks the pair are set to become very familiar with each other, with three meetings scheduled in just over two weeks. The Gunners currently have the edge on head-to-head meetings having won 2-1 at the Emirates earlier in the season. Team newsFerguson has a fully fit squad to choose from apart from skipper Gary Neville, who injured his foot in the 2-0 win over Portsmouth last week. But just because the treatment room has cleared up considerably in the last month does not mean that the Scot has it easy when selecting his starting XI. The 67-year-old must toy with idea of deploying Carlos Tevez, Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo from the start. The quartet took Tottenham to pieces at Old Trafford on Saturday as the Red Devils came from two goals down at the interval to win 5-2, with the half-time introduction of Tevez instrumental in the comeback. The visitors have a number of casualties for the clash with striker Robin Van Persie (groin), William Gallas (knee), Gael Clichy (back) and Thomas Rosicky (hamstring) all ruled out. However, defender Mikael Silvestre should be fit to face his former club after participating in training on Tuesday following a back injury, while Van Persie and Clichy are expected to be back for the second-leg. Players who need to be wary of missing the second leg through suspension if they pick up a yellow card are United duo Patrice Evra and Wayne Rooney and Gunners trio Abou Diaby, Alexandre Song and Samir Nasri.