As if the prospect of facing Chelsea at their formidable Stamford Bridge home is not daunting enough, Manchester United will have to make the trip without their senior forwards Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie.
Their other strikers, Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez, have no doubt shown a lot of promise this season but they're nowhere near tried and tested for games of such magnitude. Truth be told, Rooney's and van Persie's injury setbacks could not have come at a worse time David Moyes' side.
United #10 Rooney was allowed to take a brief sabbatical in Egypt with the hope that the Egyptian sun would quicken his recovery from a groin injury but by Moyes' own admission, the England man is not yet ready.
"Wayne’s come back, he’s fresh but he’s not ready for Chelsea," a rather distraught Moyes told reporters.
"He’s training, he’s on the grass, doing some running and looking quite good. He’s had a break, done a lot of strengthening work around his groin and hopefully enjoyed a few days in the sunshine as well. Hopefully he’ll benefit from it, but not for this game."
Rooney's partner in crime, RVP, could be considered for next weekend's matches.
"I am hoping Robin might be able to start training next week. We want to get him back on the grass. That would be a great boost for us. He is a really important player.
"We have missed both of them but they are getting closer."
Likely lineups for the crunch clash:
