Manchester United take the short trot to the Reebok Stadium to battle on of their Greater Manchester Bolton Wanderers in the Barclays Premier League.
After an strenuous, but suffice performance in the Carling Cup by his fringe players, Sir Alex Ferguson should be ringing the changes and reinserting his first-choice players back into face Bolton.
With that said, Ferguson, who missed the midweek match as well, will have an eye on the UEFA Champions League group-tilting match with Valencia next week.
After two minor blips against Everton and Rangers, United have gotten back to winning ways by winning their last two matches, and they will need to replicate their form if they are to take maximum points against the Trotters.
As with most local derbies, Bolton, despite their poor form to start the season, will tender a firm resistance for the Reds.
About
Bolton have endured what could only be called a typical Premier League season for them, as they sit 13th place having taken six points from their first five matches.
Owen Coyle, who took over the managerial reigns at Bolton last January, suffered a rowdy reception during his team's 1-0 loss against his former club, Burnley, in the Carling Cup.
The Whites have not won since the second week of the season - a 3-1 victory over West Ham United - who are planted at the foot of the Premier League standings.
Bolton is in top-half of the table for goals scored (seven) and conceded (eight) - which is only one more than United have given up - and that completely contradicts their place in the overall standings.
Who
Johan Elmander is the club's leading goal scorer with three goals, and seems to finally be settling into English football, but he has a long way to go to repay the £8 million transfer fee that Bolton paid for him in 2008.
The face of their club is without question the tough-as-nails, Kevin Davies. The 33-year old center forward is second on the team in scoring with two goals, but as United - and Patrice Evra in particular - have found out, he adds more than just goals and leads the team with four yellow cards this season, already.
A player that United have never seen, and could be an influence in the center of the midfield is Stuart Holden. The Scottish-born American international arrived at the club as Coyle's first permanent signing, but was unavailable to play against United last season as he suffered a broken leg three weeks prior to the teams matching up on March 27th.
Although, Coyle was an striker during his playing days, he knows the importance of having a formidable back-four and he has two good anchors in central defense - Zat Knight and Gary Cahill.
Unfortunately, though, Cahill, who just received his first cap for England, will miss the match following his three-match ban following his unjust dismissal in Bolton's 4-1 loss to Arsenal.
News
Owen Hargreaves has not mysteriously shown up in training with the first-team, he is actually catching the eye of Sir Alex. Even though he is impressing, Hargreaves still has a long way to go before he will regain the confidence of the manager following his nearly two-year injury hiatus.
Another midfielder is regaining full fitness as Michael Carrick is also recovering from an inflamed achilles tendon.
If Hargreaves and Carrick reach full match fitness, and no one gets hurt before next weekend's clash with Sunderland, Sir Alex could have at least seven central midfield players available to him.
Manchester United need to make sure that they are fully focused on the task at hand, and take care of the business against Bolton, or they will have muted their win against Liverpool last weekend.
Treatment
Out: A. Valencia (leg) ; Doubtful: O. Hargreaves (knee)M. Carrick (achilles), Probable: G. Obertan (ankle)
Projected
E. van der Sar; W. Brown, R. Ferdinand, N. Vidic, P. Evra; Nani, D. Fletcher, P. Scholes, R. Giggs; W. Rooney, D. Berbatov
Prediction
Bolton Wanderers 0, Manchester United 2
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