" Men against Bhoys"
David Bellion could be set for a United debut against Celtic as United´s USA Tour kicks into action in Seattle on Tuesday evening.
The Reds will play in front of a sold-out crowd in the Seahawks Stadium, with the summer signing from Sunderland ready to play a part in the team for the first time.
David is the only one of three new arrivals to be available to Sir Alex for the first action of the tour - Tim Howard and Eric Djemba-Djemba are rested after taking part in the Confederations Cup, with Fabien Barthez and Mikael Silvestre also staying at home for the same reason.
The manager is still left with a plethora of options ahead of the match, however. John O´Shea, Phil Neville and Gary Neville have proved their versatility in the past, and any of them could play alongside Rio Ferdinand at the heart of the defence or on either side at the back. Mark Lynch and Danny Pugh, also on the trip, will hope for some time on the pitch too.
David Beckham´s former berth on the right side of midfield is up for grabs, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer having played there to great effect last term. Bellion might fancy a crack on the wing, though - as may Diego Forlan.
The centre of midfield will see Roy Keane, Nicky Butt, Juan Veron and Paul Scholes fight for their places alongside up-and-coming youngsters Darren Fletcher and Kieran Richardson, while Fergie must decide who to play next to Ruud van Nistelrooy upfront as the team look to sharpen up ahead of what´s bound to be a tough 2003/04 season.
Sir Alex has admitted that the Scots are a few weeks ahead of the Reds in terms of fitness, having already completed a tour of Sweden and a friendly against Fulham. Bhoys manager Martin O´Neill is looking to use the Stateside matches against United and Boca Juniors as practise for their Champions League qualifier against FB Torshavn or Kaunus.
" They are terrific matches for us because it is games against two of the very best," he said.
" It will be great experience for us to play United in a different country and the same goes for Boca Juniors and, in terms of preparation, they couldn´t be any better, although obviously you always want to avoid picking up any injuries.
" It will give us a chance to get a bit more fitness. We did very well against Fulham, especially in the first half when we were very strong, and in terms of preparations I am delighted with the way things are going."
That should ensure a competitive edge to the match - not that one is needed if the last " friendly" clashes between the clubs are to go by. A pair of bad-tempered matches for Ryan Giggs´ and Tommy Boyd´s testimonials showed that neither side wanted to lose.
And with a whole new fanbase to appeal to in the US, nothing will be different this time around.
Possible teams:
United: Carroll; G Neville, Ferdinand, O´Shea, Lynch; Bellion, Keane, Butt, Giggs; Scholes, van Nistelrooy.
Celtic: Hedman; Crainey, Varga, Balde, McNamara; Guppy, Thompson, Petrov, Lennon; Sutton, Larsson
