November 27, 2007	Tuesday	Ziqa’ad 16, 1428

MANCHESTER, Nov 26: Sporting Lisbon should not expect an easy ride at Old Trafford on Tuesday, even though Manchester United has already advanced to the Champions League knockout phase.

The Portuguese side needs a victory to pressure AS Roma for second spot. A win for Man United would put the Red Devils through as Group F winners. “The incentives are huge for us,” United manager Alex Ferguson said Monday.

“If we win the group we can look forward to being seeded No. 1 for next February’s knockout stage.“I think that it is important to maintain the winning thread, and hopefully tomorrow we can do that again.”

Man United is coming off a 1-0 loss to Bolton on Saturday, which ended a 10-match unbeaten streak in the Premier League.

United leads the group with 12 points, Roma has 7 and Sporting is third with 4 points.

Ferguson is seeking another European Cup to add to his 1999 triumph, with this season’s campaign also marking the 50th anniversary of the Munich air crash. Eight United players died in Feb. 1958 on the team’s return from a European Cup match.

Ferguson isn’t expected to field a heavily weakened team that would give an edge to Sporting over Roma to advance from the group. But fringe players Jonny Evans and Danny Simpson, who played as United beat Dynamo Kiev 4-0 earlier this month, remain in contention.—AP