Sir Alex to test young charges

Manchester United FC are sure of their place in the UEFA Champions League first knockout round but manager Sir Alex Ferguson is still keen a young lineup defeat eliminated Beşiktaş JK in their quest to make the most of their current three-point lead over VfL Wolfsburg in Group B. Beşiktaş, fresh from beating Fenerbahçe SK 3-0 on Saturday, are three points adrift of PFC CSKA Moskva, who hold the UEFA Europa League qualifying place, and coach Mustafa Denizli is actually hoping United field as many of their regulars as possible.

Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager
We're in a good position, we have qualified. It's always an issue whether it makes a difference finishing first or second in the group, but we'll try to be number one. We will be playing some of the younger players but we're not sure about formation just at the moment, we're still looking at analysis of Beşiktaş. Their form has been transformed in the last six [league] matches, they have won them all and on Saturday they beat the top-of-the-league side 3-0 so they're in very good form. We'll do our best to try and challenge the younger players who will play. [Darron] Gibson will definitely play, as will Rafael. It's a great challenge for the young players. We'll look at starting [Gabriel] Obertan and maybe have a look at Ji-Sung Park's fitness.

Mustafa Denizli, Beşiktaş coach
Going back to the first game in Istanbul against United, Beşiktaş played good football, as we did against Wolfsburg, but the results didn't go our way. As a coach I'd almost prefer to be able to set up my team knowing we'll be against the Manchester United first-choice team, with more familiar players that we in Turkey know more about. Beşiktaş will go out with our own game plan, but our future is not just in our hands. It all depends on how we do and what other teams do too. Our aim is to always go as far as possible in Europe. United's approach is that they want to win every game regardless of the position they're in. They may have already qualified but they'll want to win, because that's what United always strive to do. Even if they do play some youngsters, those may well be stars of the future. For example Rafael and Gibson will definitely be stars – I'm 100 per cent sure of that.

Weekend results
21/11/09 United 3-0 Everton
(Fletcher 35, Carrick 67, Valencia 76)

• United went second in the Premier League by stretching their unbeaten league record at Old Trafford to 12 games. They have won 27 and lost only one of their last 31 home matches in the English top flight.

21/11/09 Beşiktaş 3-0 Fenerbahçe SK
(Fink 55, Bobô 57, İnceman 83)

• Beşiktaş lifted themselves to within four points of the Süper Lig summit with their first league win against their city rivals since April 2005.

• The win – the biggest of the season for Beşiktaş – represented the Turkish titleholders' seventh consecutive league triumph having managed just one in their first six outings.

Team news
Manchester United
Out: Owen Hargreaves (knee), Rio Ferdinand (calf), Jonny Evans (calf), John O'Shea (ankle), Fabio (groin)
Suspended: none
Misses next match if booked: Nemanja Vidić

Beşiktaş
Out: Filip Hološko (broken fibula), Rıdvan Şimşek (groin), Hakan Arıkan (wrist), Mert Nobre (compassionate leave)
Doubtful: İsmail Köybaşı (ankle), Nihat Kahveci (hamstring)
Suspended: Tomáš Sivok
Misses next match if booked: none

Background
• The visitors' UEFA Champions League hopes ended with their Matchday 4 home defeat by Wolfsburg but they could yet overturn the three-point deficit on third-placed CSKA and claim a UEFA Europa League berth.

• Another motivating factor for Beşiktaş is the memory of their last visit to England's north-west when they suffered a 8-0 defeat at Liverpool FC – their biggest European loss and a UEFA Champions League record.

• Paul Scholes scored the only goal 13 minutes from time when the clubs met for the first time in Istanbul on 15 September.

• United's late comeback against CSKA last time out extended their unbeaten home record in the UEFA Champions League to 23 matches.

Did you know?
Wayne Rooney will have fond memories of United's last visit from a Turkish club – he hit a debut hat-trick in a 6-2 victory against Fenerbahçe in a group-stage fixture on 28 September 2004. Beşiktaş custodian Rüştü Reçber was in the visiting goal that night.

For more information on the match in the official press kit, click here.