Manchester United have defensive doubts for the visit of Roma, who are seeking revenge.

Injury concerns for United

Manchester United have defensive doubts for the visit of Roma, who are seeking revenge for last season's UEFA Champions League demolition. Roma return to Old Trafford hellbent on avenging the 7-1 defeat at the quarter-final stage of last season's competition. That result emphatically overturned Roma's 2-1 advantage from the first leg, although Sir Alex Ferguson has quickly written off any expectations of a repeat. United made a winning start to the group phase as Cristiano Ronaldo's header secured a 1-0 win at his former club Sporting Lisbon. Ferguson will now look for his players to do the business at home, with three Old Trafford wins likely to be enough to secure a place in the knockout phase.

Doubts over duo

Last season's semi-finalists are without veteran goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, who suffered a toe injury in the weekend's win at Birmingham City. Van der Sar will be replaced by Tomasz Kuszczak, who will be making his Champions League debut for the club. There are also concerns in defence after Wes Brown and Nemanja Vidic picked up knocks in the 1-0 success at St Andrews. Both players hope to be fit, but John O'Shea and Gerard Pique have been nominated as the replacements by Ferguson. Owen Hargreaves is also in contention after injury, with Ferguson toying with whether to start the midfielder. Louis Saha is also expected to stay on the bench, with Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez to spearhead the attack.

Panucci missing

Roma beat Dynamo Kiev in their opening group game, but go into Tuesday's match on the back of a 4-1 home defeat by Serie A title rivals Internazionale. The match turned on Ludovic Giuly's first-half dismissal and coach Luciano Spalletti is optimistic his players' confidence will not have been dented. Spalletti is without full-backs Christian Panucci (back) and Marco Cassetti (thigh), so Brazilian defender Cicinho is due to start. Simone Perrotta, who was born in Ashton-under-Lyne, will fulfil his father's wish of playing at Old Trafford after recovering from a thigh complaint. Francesco Totti will lead the Roma line, while Alberto Aquilani is tipped to replace David Pizarro in midfield.