Norwich vs. Manchester United - Match Preview

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson admitted that he will wield his axe for his side's trip to East Anglia and make several changes, mainly up-front.

Alan Smith and Louis Saha look set to partner each other up-front as Ruud van Nistelrooy looks set to be demoted to the bench following a dry spell in the firing line.

Ferguson concedes it was a mistake to rush the Dutchman back from an Achilles injury to face AC Milan in the Champions League. "We took a chance bringing him back originally when we did after his three months out with the Achilles problem," 

"When you are playing AC Milan and you think of Ruud's goalscoring record in Europe, we had no option really"

"But it was too early. He was probably a couple of weeks away from a comeback. But Ruud will be all right. We need to keep him going now and he'll be fine." he added.

The Scotsman admits he should have rested the striker for last week's goalless stalemate with Blackburn Rovers having been on international action.

"In fairness to Ruud it wasn't right to play him last week against Blackburn Rovers. It was difficult for him against Rovers and I think it affected his performance. Being away from training at Carrington wasn't ideal for him at this stage"

"He needed a really good week's training with us and he's had that this week. He has worked really hard. That will help him." 

Monday's Reserve game with Everton saw David Bellion, Phil Neville, Liam Miller, Alan Smith and Kleberson all given a chance to prove their worth for Saturday's game whilst Louis Saha played later in the week on against Blackpool. A handful of those players are likely to play some part at Carrow Road.

Norwich's Thomas Helveg is set to replace Mark Edworthy at right-back whilst Youssef Safri comes in for Gary Holt. On-loan David Bentley is pressing for a place after recovering from a knee problem.

Norwich lie at the foot of the table and trail 19th placed Crystal Place by 6 points. Premiership survival looks very uncertain for the Canneries. At the other end of the table United are chasing 2nd spot having lost their position to Arsenal, who demolished Norwich 4-1 last week.

ManUtdWeb Prediction: Norwich City 0 - 3 Manchester United - Sir Alex Ferguson challeneged his strikers to produce goals in this fixture, and I'm sure they will. Norwich aren't playing well but can cause a surprise at Carrow Road.