United out to ruin Arsenal's season

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson says his players are ready to knock Arsenal out of the title race.

He watched his team move into the last eight of the Champions League, beating Roma 3-0 on aggregate and with Carlos Tevez scoring the game's only goal.

Ferguson said: "The games against Arsenal and Chelsea are the two big ones. They are fantastic occasions which all the players look forward to. It's best if you go into the games in decent form and I think our form is decent.

"It will be a great game on Sunday. As we know Arsenal have been our main competitor for 13 years or whatever and it's not going to change on Sunday.

"It will be a hard-fought match and hopefully we will take the spoils."

Leaders United will knock Arsenal out of the title race if they win at Old Trafford and leave the Gunners facing a season without silverware following their European exit at Liverpool on Tuesday.

United will be further boosted by the return to action of Gary Neville and Mikael Silvestre.

Neville appeared as a late substitute against Roma after almost 13 months out with an ankle injury and his every touch was cheered by the Old Trafford crowd.

"What he learned is how much he's appreciated by the fans. It was a great reception he got," said Ferguson.

"It's good to have the boy back. He's been through a hard time of it with persistent small injuries that were always de-railing him."

United illustrated their strength in-depth in the win over Roma as Ferguson could afford to rest Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney.

Defender Nemanja Vidic will still be missing against Arsenal but should be fit to face Barcelona, while Silvestre's successful comeback following seven months out with a knee injury further increased Feguson's options.

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