The Hindu : Sport / Football : Man U, Arsenal aiming to clinch early qualification

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Wednesday, Nov 07, 2007
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Man U, Arsenal aiming to clinch early qualification

London: With three victories in as many games, Manchester United and Arsenal are on the verge of advancing to the next round of the European Champions League. And it’s giving Alex Ferguson at least a chance to tinker with his line-up.

The English rivals, who drew 2-2 in the Premier League on Saturday, each lead their respective groups, and wins by United over Dynamo Kiev and by Arsenal against Slavia Prague — teams they beat handily two weeks ago — could guarantee a knockout phase berth.

Two-time European champion United won in Ukraine 4-2, yet Ferguson could still reshuffle a forward line that has scored 18 goals in five games.

Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez started each of those five games, so Ferguson could rest at least one of them to give Louis Saha a chance following his return from a knee problem.

The France striker came on as a substitute on Saturday and helped set up a goal for Cristiano Ronaldo, who also scored two of United’s four goals in Kiev. “Louis Saha made a marvellous contribution when he came on,” Ferguson said. “The lads who have been playing all this time have been fantastic and we are very proud of them.

“But we can now alternate our teams a little bit better.”

Ahead on points

United has nine points in Group F, three more than AS Roma and six more than Sporting Lisbon despite injuries to players including Saha, Michael Carrick, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Darren Fletcher and Patrice Evra.

Only Scholes is still out, so Ferguson has plenty of options against a team bottom of the standings and without a point.

Ferguson will have a familiar opponent on the opposition bench after former Arsenal defender Oleh Luzhny was promoted from assistant coach to lead the side following Jozsef Szabo’s health problems.

Luzhny played for Arsenal from 1999-2003, winning the Premier League and FA Cup.

Totti injured

Roma captain Francesco Totti is hobbled by the right foot injury he picked up against Sporting two weeks ago and will not play in tomorrow’s return. — AP

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