The Red Devils drew against Benfica 1-1 at Lisbon in the opener of this Champions League while Basel defeated Romanian club Otelul Galati, 2-1, in their first game, and tend to play well as a unit devoid of superstar talent.
The Red Devils are currently at the top of the English Premier League table with 16 points. Alex Ferguson would opt Dimitar Berbatov in the attack as Wayne Rooney (hamstring) and Javier Hernandez are injured as well as midfielder Tom Cleverley. Ferguson will use a rather makeshift defense as Chris Smalling (groin), Jonny Evans (ankle), Nemanja Vidic (calf), and Rafael remain sidelined. Danny Welbeck would also be in the starting line-up after recovering from a hamstring problem.
The Swiss club are currently in fourth place in the Swiss Super League. They are led by striker Marco Strellar, and young attacking midfielder Fabian Frei. Australia midfielder Scott Chipperfield is still recovering from a torn muscle which has seen him sidelined for the entire Swiss league season thus far. Valentin Stocker and Gilles Yapi and Genseric Kusunga are all out with long-term knee injuries. Highly-rated young midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri is out serving the second match of a two-game ban.
