Maccabi Haifa v Man Utd (highlights TV3, ITV) IT is appropriate that, with the England captain David Beckham left at home to mind the baby, Manchester United's manager Alex Ferguson is thinking of replacing him tonight with someone barely out of childhood.
Ferguson has deflected accusations that his decision to rest Beckham and Juan Sebastian Veron is unfair to his Group F rivals by playing up the prospect of unveiling the new Becks, or even the new George Best, this evening.
Headline writers may hope the Dane Mads Timm, 18 on Thursday, is the teenager who will get the nod against the Israeli side Maccabi Haifa, who will play their final "home" game in the GSP Stadium, halfway up a Cypriot hill outside Nicosia. But it is more likely the honour will go to Kieran Richardson, 18 last week, who came on for the final three minutes against Olympiakos last week.
Olympiakos and Bayer Leverkusen, who could lose second place to Maccabi, are unhappy with Ferguson's squad.
"They have to trust us," he said. "It's a gamble but one we have to take for the long-term future of our club, given the shape we are in. I guarantee we will try to win."
MACCABI HAIFA (probable, 4-4-2): Awate; Harazi, Benado, Ejiafor, Keise; Rosso, Zutauttas, Badeer, Pralija; Ayegbeni, Katan.
MANCHESTER UNITED (probable, 4-4-2): Ricardo; G Neville, Ferdinand, O'Shea, Silvestre; Richardson, P Neville, Scholes, Fortune; Solskjaer, Forlan.
