Sunday Times about Ferguson:
Break out the smelling salts. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has supported his long-time rival at Arsenal, Arsène Wenger, in today's match programme for the game with the Gunners. Ferguson writes: ‘The transfer of Ashley Cole was the biggest certainty of all time. Selling him was the sensible thing to do and, if ever an exchange was obvious, the arrival of William Gallas made sense too.'
Paul Wilson in the Observer:
The three-match suspensions just served by Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes have complicated United's start to the season, though not as much as the arrival of Owen Hargreaves would have done had Bayern Munich been willing to sell him. Most people feel a midfield of Michael Carrick and Hargreaves would be too defensive for United, whatever tricks Cristiano Ronaldo and the now-injured Ryan Giggs might produce on the wings. The purchase of Hargreaves would also have pushed out Paul Scholes, unjustifiably on the evidence of Wednesday's Champions League victory over Celtic. So maybe Bayern's intransigence was a blessing in disguise for United, who have any number of attacking midfield permutations when Park Ji-Sung and Alan Smith join Kieran Richardson and Darren Fletcher on the fit list. The one question that has not been settled yet is how United replace Ruud van Nistelrooy. Rooney and Louis Saha are the first-choice front pair, but though the French striker's pace and mobility offer a different type of threat to Van Nistelrooy's refined brand of goal-hanging, there is some doubt over whether he is as reliable a finisher. Despite overwhelming superiority in their last two games, United could easily have been embarrassed by late goals from Spurs and Celtic in what turned out to be narrow victories. Saha missed chances in both and it was not clear whether Sir Alex Ferguson was bragging or complaining when he said Saha could have set a European goals record on Wednesday.
Ronaldo:
"I love to play big games and this is one more.
"Arsenal is a classic game. You never know who is going to win these games. Maybe Arsenal haven't started very well, but in the classics, you never know. They are still a great team but we have to think about ourselves and at the moment it is good for us.
"They have young players who are working well for the team and I think they have the same qualities as those who've left the club like Vieira, Bergkamp, Cole and Pires."
Fletcher:
"It is far too early to say they would be out of the title race.
"They are a top-class side who are certainly capable of going on a long winning run to claw some points back.
"I have watched all Arsenal's games so far and don't think they have been doing that badly.
"They might have been overplaying at times, which must be a bit of a worry, but they are still capable of cutting any opposition defence open.
"The criticism they are receiving is probably a little bit unfair and we will treat them in exactly the same manner as we have done in the past."
BBC:
Cristiano Ronaldo is back after missing the Champions League match through suspension, but Ryan Giggs is out.
Park Ji-Sung's ankle injury means he is also a non-starter but Nemanja Vidic and Alan Smith are back in the frame.
It looks certain Arsenal will be without captain Thierry Henry, who has with a foot injury, and Robin van Persie, who is nursing a hip problem.
But defender Kolo Toure is expected to start and midfielder Freddie Ljungberg is pressing for a recall.
Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, Vidic, Silvestre, Evra, Fletcher, Ronaldo, Scholes, Carrick, Jones, O'Shea, Richardson, Smith, Rooney, Saha.
Arsenal (from): Lehmann, Eboue, Toure, Hoyte, Djourou, Gallas, Hleb, Baptista, Fabregas, Gilberto, Rosicky, Van Persie, Flamini, Adebayor, Almunia, Ljungberg, Song, Walcott, Henry.
BBC weather:
They say it will be a sunny 21°C today.
