Premiership
Riverside
Sunday, 6 April; KO: 13:30 BST


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Premiership Table:


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Middlesbrough welcome back Brazilian midfielder Fabio Rochemback back from a ban for Manchester United's visit.

But manager Gareth Southgate must cope without Egyptian striker Mido, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a hernia problem.

Gary Neville returns to the Manchester United squad for the first time in a year, following an ankle injury.

With Mikael Silvestre also fit, United have good cover for defender Nemanja Vidic, who is out with a knee injury.



Quote:

Originally Posted by Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate: "Recently we have shown that we can compete against the top teams in the country. "We've got to attack the game in a way that puts them on the back foot. We know what they're capable of but we don't have an inferiority complex. "We've got to try to hurt them because if we just sit back they will still create chances."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson on defender Nemanja Vidic's injury: "Of course he is a loss but I think we can cope. "If we cannot, there is something wrong. We are very well covered in his position. "I thought Rio [Ferdinand] was particularly impressive in the second half against Roma. He also has the pace to deal with players who try to get beyond him."

There are certain victories that would delight even a manager as used to the art of winning as Sir Alex Ferguson.

This week’s impressive


2-0 victory away at Roma

would most certainly fit in to this exclusive category.

As golden boys


Cristiano Ronaldo

and


Wayne Rooney

rippled the Roma net, the confidence that this season could be one of the most glorious in Manchester United’s history grew ever larger.

Indeed, with the Red Devils five points clear at the top of the Premiership, the visit to lowly Middlesbrough would seem to be yet
another easily negotiated hurdle in United’s relentless pursuit of glory.

However, this viewpoint would be seriously ignorant of the threat that Middlesbrough can pose to the clubs at the top of the Premiership pile.
Even though United thrashed Middlesbrough 4-1 in October, the damage that the Teessiders’ can cause to teams
chasing the Premiership title is not only borne out of their impressive record against the ‘Big Four,’ but when one looks back
to the closing games of last season they will see that ‘Boro threw a huge banana skin in United’s
ultimately successful pursuit of the Premiership crown by claiming a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.

Middlesbrough were also tremendously unlucky in defeat last weekend at United’s title rivals Chelsea,
and their attack caused many problems for John Terry et al.
With Nemanja Vidic out of this weekend’s game, the Middlesbrough attack that did everything but score against the Blues
will surely fancy their chances of causing an upset that will blow this season’s title race wide open.

Thus, Manchester United will need to be at their best if they are to claim the all important three points in a game that
should provide an excellent test of their Premiership winning credentials.




It remains a mystery of the Premiership that a team such as Middlesbrough can languish towards the bottom end of the table,
but whenever they face an opponent from the ‘Big Four’ they seem to be capable of causing their glamorous opponents no end of problems.

This has been on show throughout a season which has seen Gareth Southgate’s team beat Arsenal at home,
draw away at the Emirates, draw with Liverpool at the Riverside Stadium, and push Chelsea all the way
in last weekend’s narrow 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge.

The nature of these performances have been a source of both pride and frustration for the Middlesbrough fans that would dearly
wish for their side to perform at this high level for every game, and not just when the Premiership big boys are the opponents.

If this had occurred then Middlesbrough would surely be much higher than their current 13th place in the table,
and would not have recorded anywhere near the fourteen defeats that have seen the team flirt with relegation.

However, a considerable note of caution must be added here, as one of these defeats
was a 4-1 mauling by this weekend’s opponents COLOR="Red"]Manchester United in a game that belied ‘Boro
status as a team that can take unexpected points away from the sides in the upper echelons of the English game.

This should not completely dampen any hopes of Middlesbrough springing yet another surprise as the loss to injury of Manchester United’s
rock solid centre back Nemanja Vidic should present the Teessiders’ with a greater chance of causing an upset.

The odds of this occurring will also improve if ‘Boro big money Brazilian international striker Afonso Alves can go one better
than hitting the woodwork against Chelsea, and put the ball in the back of the Manchester United net.

If this is to happen, then the home supporters will not be the only ones celebrating a ‘Boro victory as the fans of Arsenal and Chelsea
will surely be grateful for an opportunity for their teams to close up on Manchester United in the race for the Premiership title.




FORM GUIDE






Gareth Southgate will be anxiously checking on the fitness of German international centre back Robert Huth,
who is rated very doubtful for the visit of Manchester United due to an ankle injury.
If Huth is to miss this fixture, he will join Mido (hernia) and Brad Jones (wrist) on the sidelines.
However, it is not all bad news for the ‘Boro manager, with midfielder Fabio Rochemback returning to the team after completing his recent suspension.


Last starting XI (vs. Chelsea): Schwarzer, Young, Wheater, Pogatetz, Taylor, O'Neil (Johnson 79), Cattermole (Shawky 89),
Boateng, Downing, Tuncay (Alves 64), Aliadiere.
Subs Not Used: Turnbull, McMahon.

Squad: Schwarzer, Turnbull, Young, Wheater, Pogatetz, Huth, Taylor, McMahon, Grounds, O'Neil, Boateng, Rochemback, Shawky, Downing,
Johnson, Cattermole, Tuncay, Alves, Gook, Aliadiere.







All Manchester United fans will be relieved to hear the news that Nemanja Vidic
will only miss the next two to three weeks of the season with the knee injury he picked up against Roma.
The Serbian international will keep Louis Saha (hamstring) and Darren Fletcher (knee) company on an Old Trafford treatment table
which has been vacated by Mikael Silvestre and Gary Neville’s return to Sir Alex Ferguson’s match day squad after lengthy injury absences.

Last starting XI (vs. Roma): Van Der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic (O'Shea 34), Evra, Carrick, Scholes, Anderson (Hargreaves 55), Ronaldo, Park,
Rooney (Tevez 84).
Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Giggs, Pique, Silvestre.

Squad: Van Der Sar, Neville, Brown, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Evra, O'Shea, Ronaldo, Scholes, Anderson, Hargreaves, Carrick, Giggs, Park,
Rooney, Tevez, Kuszczak, Foster, Pique, Welbeck.



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BIG-MATCH FACTS



Manchester United take on Middlesbrough at the Riverside, knowing that victory in their next four games would see them
retaining the Premier League title at Chelsea on Saturday lunchtime, 26 April.

Tuesday's 0-2 victory over AS Roma in Italy in the Champions League was Sir Alex Ferguson's 1,200th match in charge of the Red Devils.
Sir Alex has now overseen a fifth of United's league games in their entire history and is eager to lead them
to a 10th Premier League crown, which would also be the 17th time they were installed champions of England,
one behind Liverpool's record 18.

Middlesbrough have won 20 of 70 Premier League games under Gareth Southgate,
who's looking for an improvement on their 12th placed finish last season.

The Riversiders have a comfortable eight point cushion between themselves and the relegation zone,
but would dearly love to register their 100th all-time home win in the Premier League in this fixture.

United have won three times as many league games as Boro this season (24 to eight),
scored 40 more goals (68 to 28), conceded 30 fewer (15 to 45); while the Teessiders have lost 10 more (14 to four).

This is the 100th league meeting of Middlesbrough and Manchester United, and the Red Devils are looking for their 50th win.



CLUB FORM:

Club stats
fixtures

9. The run-in is:-

Quote:

Tottenham (a) Bolton (h) Sunderland (a) Portsmouth (h) Manchester City (h)

Club stats
Fixtures

Quote:

Arsenal (h) Blackburn (a) Chelsea (a) West Ham (h) Wigan (a)

KEY PLAYER NOTES







Stewart DOWNING

is Middlesbrough's top scorer with seven goals.

DOWNING is also the clubs' top Premier League marksmen, with six.

DOWNING is the only remaining player to have started every one of Middlesbrough's Premier League matches this season.








Cristiano RONALDO

is Manchester United's top scorer with 36 goals.

The Portuguese is also United's leading Premier League marksman with 26 from 26 starts, and is leading the race for the Barclays Golden Boot.

If on the field from the outset:-

Chris EAGLES will be making his 50th club league start (Manchester United, Watford and Sheffield Wednesday).

Long term injury, Gary NEVILLE will be making his 350th Premier League start for Manchester United.

HEAD TO HEAD

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Morrison 66

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Saha 19 (pen)

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Fletcher 68

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Aliadiere 6

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Nani 3

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Rooney 33

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Tevez 55

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Tevez 85