Manchester United Football Club News

• Nickname:Red Devils
• Founded:1878
• Manager:Sir Alex Ferguson

• Ground:Old Trafford
• Capacity:68,174

Preview: Man Utd v Wigan

27 Dec 2009 - 17:55:33

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Manchester United will be hoping to keep up the pressure on leaders Chelsea with a resounding win against Wigan Athletic at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening.

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez may fancy his plucky side's chances though.

United have a debilitating injury list and it is a one that could all but end their title challenge if it is to continue to hinder them into the new year.

Sir Alex Ferguson's beleaguered side have been playing Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher and youngster Ritchie de Laet in defence lately and his patched up side has struggled.

Nemanja Vidic, Wes Brown and Rafael all returned to face Hull City on Sunday and the 3-1 victory closed the gap on leaders Chelsea to just two points.

However, Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans, Gary Neville, John O'Shea, Nani, Edwin van der Sar, Owen Hargreaves and Federico Macheda will all definitely miss the visit of the Latics through injury.

Four games in 11 days will certainly test United's resolve and it will be interesting to see if Ferguson's stricken unit can deal with the rigours in front of them.

One player who will be desperate to shine on Wednesday will be Luis Antonio Valencia following his £16million switch to the Red Devils from Wigan in the summer.

For the visitors, Mohamed Diame is out of their Christmas and new year campaign after injuring knee ligaments in the recent defeat against Liverpool.

Last season, the Latics ran United close at Old Trafford as they fell to a 1-0 defeat. A goal in the second minute was enough for the champions to grab all three points.

Wigan's line-up consisted of Valencia, Lee Cattermole, Wilson Palacios, Emil Heskey and Amr Zaki, who have since left the DW Stadium.