Premiership
Old Trafford
Saturday, 18 October; KO: 17:30 BST


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Premiership Table:


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Midfield duo


Michael Carrick (ankle) and Owen Hargreaves (knee)

will again miss out for Manchester United.

Ryan Giggs will play but Anderson and Carlos Tevez,
who have been on international duty, face late checks.

Winger Chris Brunt has recovered from a hamstring strain to boost West Brom's squad for the trip to Old Trafford.

But midfielder Filipe Teixeira, who was hoping to return after recovering from knee ligament damage,
strained his calf in training and remains sidelined.



West Brom boss


Tony Mowbray:

Quote:

"We will try to be positive and try to get our game going. We do know with Manchester United that it will be an open game. "They won't necessarily be all about stopping us. They will want it to be a football match. "So when we've got possession of the ball we have to try to make sure we don't give it back to them too quickly. "We will go there and play and try to enjoy it and get a result."

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BIG-MATCH FACTS


West Bromwich Albion go to Old Trafford needing
to create club history if they are to return with all three points.

Never before have they recorded back-to-back away victories in the Premier League.

Defending European and Premier League champions Manchester United are replicating
last season with 11 points from the first six games.

The best they can hope for from victory over the Baggies is a top five berth.

West Brom have made their best ever start to a Premier League season, and would dearly love
to continue that form by taking something away from Old Trafford
on the second anniversary of manager Tony Mowbray's tenure.

Manchester United are defending an unbeaten Premier League record against West Brom.

Albion have drawn two and lost eight league visits to the Theatre of Dreams since they last
registered a victory from a dramatic 3-5 success on 30 December 1978 - 30 years ago.




CLUB FORM:






Club stats
Fixtures


8th 11 points
Highest achievable after Saturday's matches: 5th
Lowest could fall: 14th


1. Won the last four in all competitions, and undefeated in six.

2. Chasing three consecutive Premier League victories for the first time
since stringing six together between 23 February and 29 March 2008.

2. Lost one of the last eight Premier League matches;
2-1, away to Liverpool on 13 September.

3. On a league high 43 matches without a no score draw;
the goalless stalemate, home to Reading on the opening day of last season, 12 August 2007, being the most recent.

4. On the longest current sequence of 30 Premier League matches since they failed to score;
the 1-0 defeat away to Bolton on 24 November 2007 being the last occasion.

5. Also on the longest current run in the highest league of 84 matches since a loss by more than a single goal;
3-0, away to Chelsea on 29 April 2006.

6. Their league games this season are averaging two goals each;
12 in six, eight for, four against.

7. Fewer Premier League goals have been on display at Old Trafford than at any other ground;
just four in two fixtures (three for, one against).

Only beaten once in the last 21 league games at Old Trafford, winning 18 of them,
and dropped just two points out of the 21 on offer since the
1-2 reverse to Manchester City on 10 February 2008.

Not lost in any competition in front of the home faithful, since Portsmouth's 0-1 victory in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on 8 March 2008.

8. The lowest placed of the four remaining clubs with unbeaten home records in the highest league.

9. Won the last 10 Premier League matches against Midlands' clubs and not lost to a side from the heart
of the nation since a 1-0 defeat, away to Wolves, on 17 January 2004.

10. This match precedes the Champions League clash with Celtic at Old Trafford next Tuesday.

Club stats