RIO Ferdinand faces a fitness test on a back injury before Sir Alex Ferguson finalises his United squad to face Aston Villa.

Dimitar Berbatov (hamstring) and Wes Brown (ankle) join long-term knee injury victims Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves on the sidelines, with Wayne Rooney expected to recover from a calf strain which kept him out of England’s midweek win in Germany.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani and Anderson will be assessed following their trip to Brazil on international duty, while teenage forward Danny Welbeck is also in the squad.

Aston Villa defender Carlos Cuellar has been ruled out of the game.

The former Rangers defender suffered a thigh injury during the 2-0 win over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium last weekend.

Luke Young is expected to revert to right-back with Nicky Shorey returning to the side on the opposite flank.

Villa manager Martin O’Neill has no other fresh injury worries as his side look to win a league meeting with United for the first time in 13 years.

"United coming to town is always a big occasion, and always will be," O'Neill said.

"If we are looking at this fixture in 40 years' time I am sure it will still be exactly the same. We are still looking at United as the benchmark."

Aston Villa (from): Friedel, Guzan, L Young, Shorey, Davies, Laursen, Knight, Milner, Petrov, Reo-Coker, Barry, A Young, Osbourne, Salifou, Carew, Agbonlahor, Harewood, Delfouneso, Gardner.

Manchester United (from): Van der Sar, Foster, Kuszczak, Neville, Rafael, O’Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Ronaldo, Park, Anderson, Fletcher, Carrick, Giggs, Nani, Rooney, Tevez, Welbeck.

Villa league form: WWLLW

United league form: DWWLW

Key opponent: Ashley Young - a superb operator down the left for Villa

Prediction: Villa 1 United 2 - A very tough game but the Reds have a great record at Villa Park

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You can get 7/1 on United winning 2-1 with Betfred. For this and more odds, click here.