Manchester United vs Norwich City

 

Sir Alex Ferguson will be without defender Phil Jones (ankle), but Robin van Persie has been passed fit after overcoming a hip injury.

However, veteran midfielder Paul Scholes (knee) may recover in time to feature this weekend, while Ryan Giggs and Danny Welbeck will also be in contention.

Nevertheless, Sir Alex will no doubt cast one eye over next Tuesday's momentous Champions League clash with Real Madrid and may look to rest some of his big-name stars as a result.

Chris Hughton, meanwhile, should stick with a similar side to the one that conquered Everton at Carrow Road last weekend, although he may be able to welcome back Andrew Surman (knee) and Alexander Tettey (knock).

The Canaries will still be without John Ruddy between the sticks, however, although the 26-year-old is expected to return this month.

Elsewhere, Kei Kamara and Luciano Becchio are in contention for a starting berth up front if Hughton decides to go for a more attacking line-up with two forwards.

• Manchester United are now undefeated in 17 games in all competitions and an impressive 15 in the Premier League.

• United have taken 89 per cent of the league points available to them recently, having won five and drawn one of their last six matches. In the same period, title rivals Manchester City have taken just 61% of their potential points.

• The Red Devils have also won every single one of their home league games this season bar one - a 3-2 defeat to Tottenham in late September.

• Sir Alex's side are still on course for a Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble, having already achieved that feat once in 1999. United have also completed a league and FA Cup double on three occasions, and won a league and European double in 2008.

• Norwich City are unbeaten in their last four league games but have won just two of their last 11.

• However, Chris Hughton's side will be buoyed by the knowledge that they beat Manchester United 1-0 in November's reverse fixture thanks to an Anthony Pilkington header (United's last defeat in the Premier League).

• The Canaries' away form has been nothing short of dire this term - they have won just once in 13 games on the road, having drawn six and lost six.

• Norwich's Kei Kamara (pictured) has already scored against Manchester United this campaign - in a pre-season friendly for Sporting Kansas City. He also scored the equaliser for the Canaries in their 2-1 win against Everton last week.

• Hughton's side have three points less than Norwich did this time last season under Paul Lambert, though a win this Saturday could lift them to 10th place.