Injury-hit Manchester United will have their work cut out on Wednesday night when they travel to France to take on Marseille in the Champions League knockout stages (Marseille 5/2,draw 23/10,United 11/10).
Admittedly, the draw has been a favourable one for the Red Devils considering London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have been pitted against Barcelona and AC Milan respectively.
However, United will have to do without five players for the game in the south of France.
The major losses are central defender Rio Ferdinand, who has still not recovered from a calf injury, and Anderson who was forced off the field during United’s 1-0 win over Crawley Town in the FA Cup.
Jonny Evans would be the go-to man in the absence of Ferdinand but the Northern Irishman is also on the injury list with an ankle problem.
Add to this the injuries suffered by Ryan Giggs and Michael Owen, and you’re left with some tough decisions for Sir Alex Ferguson to make on Wednesday night.
Fortunately for United they still have firepower up front with Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov fit and ready to go.
Meanwhile, playmaker Nani will be bursting forward from midfield to create chances and bag goals of his own.
Marseille will be no pushovers on home soil, as they currently sit in third place in Ligue 1, and have only suffered two defeats in their last 22 games.
United were lacklustre in their last outing in the FA Cup and they would probably be happy with a draw in Marseille, especially if they can bag themselves an away goal, so at 23/10, that looks appealing.
In Wednesday night’s other game, Inter Milan take on Bayern Munich at the San Siro in a replay of last year’s final (Inter 5/4, draw 9/4, Munich 11/5).
Under former boss Jose Mourinho, Inter were the side to come out on top at the Santiago Bernabeu to break German hearts.
There has been a change of manager at the San Siro as Leonardo has since taken the reins after former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez struggled to find his feet in Milan.
Inter are not the same side that they were under the ’special one’ Mourinho, as they have shown a weakness at the back that has been exploited a few times this season.
Tottenham were able to exploit a lack of pace at the back, as Gareth Bale glided past Maicon on a number of occasions to bag himself a hat-trick in the group-stage clash.
Bayern do not have that same out-and-out pace in their ranks as Spurs do with Bale and Aaron Lennon, but they do boast technical players like Bastian Schweinsteiger and Frank Ribery who will pose problems for the Italian club.
With Inter on home soil they will be the favourites but Munich might be able to get something out of this mouth-watering clash and money on another draw, at 9/4, could be rewarded.
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