This match doesn’t come sooner after Red Devils miserable midweek blues! Sir Alex Ferguson has again make it clear that he will not open his check book despite the unconvincing results for the first two game and have full confidence that present squad members can pull the string together.
The Red Devils walked away with a single-goal victory against Birmingham on opening-day but fared worse at Burnley on Wednesday as Michael Carrick missed a penalty in what turned out to be a shock 1-0 defeat.
United’s is missing the spark in midfield, Giggs and Scholes can no longer be consider as the sparks we need. Some have suggest Ferguson might abandon his previous intention not to make any further signings this summer and make a concerted effort to lure one of Valencia’s highly-rated duo David Villa or David Silva to Old Trafford.
Sir Alex accepts his team cannot afford many more slip-ups during the opening weeks of the season where traditionally United had been a slow starter.
“I made the point – and I am sure of it. This is a great group of players,” said Ferguson.
“Yes, we would like to score goals. Last season was our poorest goal difference for 15 years. It was an issue.
“We have to step up to the mark and I am quite confident we can do that. We will win games.
“In a way, part of our history is that we have dropped points early in the season,” added Ferguson.
Ferguson seems likely to recall Dimitar Berbatov, as well as Antonio Valencia, who is certain to feature against his former club after making the £17million move to Old Trafford this summer.
Changes are also expected in midfield, with Darren Fletcher among those expected to be recalled, while Michael Carrick must decide whether to continue as penalty-taker after failing with his first attempt at Turf Moor, a miss that ultimately proved pivotal.
It is at the back where early-season injuries have bitten the deepest though.
Nemanja Vidic, Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand have all suffered problems, although there is good news about the former duo, both of whom are expected to start on Saturday.
However, it appears the damage Ferdinand sustained to his thigh in training last week is slightly more extensive than first thought.
Originally, Ferguson said he expected his £29.1million defender to be back in action within a fortnight.
Now the timescale has changed to between “three and four weeks”.
Latics boss Roberto Martinez believes the lessons learned in the defeat to Wolves will stand his players in good stead.
After out-playing Aston Villa to win 2-0 on the opening day of the season the Latics were caught out by a pumped up Wolves team on Tuesday, conceding a sixth-minute goal which cost them dearly.
With United slipping to a shock defeat at Burnley 24 hours later Martinez knows his players cannot afford to be similarly off their game against the champions.
“We will learn a lot from the Wolves game but this is a totally different scenario,” he said.
“We came in to play at home (against Wolves) with great expectations after the result at the weekend and that is something new for us.
“Physically we need to recover but also mentally. The players need to get back to the levels that they need to be able to enjoy their football and perform.
“Obviously Manchester United are one of the best teams in the world and they will test us.”
Winger Charles N’Zogbia is rated at 50-50 to be fit for the clash as he is struggling with ankle injury.
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