Man United, Arsenal on verge of knockout stage

With three victories in as many games, Manchester United and Arsenal are on the verge of advancing to the next round...

With three victories in as many games, Manchester United and Arsenal are on the verge of advancing to the next round of the Champions League. And it’s giving Alex Ferguson a chance to tinker with his line-up.

The English rivals each lead their respective groups, and wins by United over Dynamo Kiev and by Arsenal against Slavia Prague could guarantee a knockout phase berth.

Two-time European champions United won in Ukraine 4-2, yet Ferguson could still reshuffle a forward line that has scored 18 goals in five games.

Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez started each of those five games, so Ferguson could rest at least one of them to give Louis Saha a chance. The France striker came on as a substitute Saturday and helped set up a goal for Cristiano Ronaldo, who also scored two of United’s four goals in Kiev.

United have nine points in Group F, three more than AS Roma and six more than Sporting Lisbon despite injuries to players including Saha, Michael Carrick, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes.

Arsenal are arguably in an even stronger position than United going into their Group H match. The Gunners have not lost in any competition since April.

Wednesday’s matches

Group E: Barcelona vs Rangers; Lyon vs Stuttgart

Group F: Manchester United vs Dynamo Kiev; Sporting Lisbon vs AS Roma

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Group G: Fenerbahce vs PSV Eindhoven; Inter Milan vs CSKA Moscow

Group H: Slavia Prague vs Arsenal; Steaua Bucharest vs Sevilla