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Manchester United defender Phil Jones is to have an X-ray after suffering a facial injury in the 5-0 win at Fulham.

Jones appeared to take a knock to the face in a challenge with Fulham forward Clint Dempsey early on in the first half at Craven Cottage.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said: “Phil Jones got an elbow to the jaw and we’ll send him for an X-ray. It doesn’t look good.”

Ashley Young will also be out for two to three weeks with a knee problem.

The winger was forced off in the second half after a challenge from Dickson Etuhu and is likely to miss the whole festive period.

Defender Rio Ferdinand missed Wednesday’s win because of a knock and will not be fit for the Boxing Day clash with Wigan.

“Rio will maybe be back for the Blackburn game on New Year’s Eve,” said Ferguson.

“Phil [Jones] is a concern and Ashley is out for two or three weeks. It was an elbow [on Jones], but I don’t think it was intentional.

“I thought the challenge on Ashley Young was aggressive. We’re all right in the striker department, it’s in other areas we are picking up injuries.”

SOURCE: BBC Sport

So as well as the pair who suffered knocks at Craven Cottage last night the likes of Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Owen, Anderson, Tom Cleverley, Darren Fletcher and Fabio are all also sidelined and given that the upcoming Christmas matches will come thick and fast Sir Alex Ferguson will hope his large squad can step up their games to keep up with local rivals Man City.

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Manchester United is waiting for the results of a scan on the thigh injury striker Michael Owen.suffered at Old Trafford last night.

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The injury-plagued front-man was handed a rare start in United’s 2-0 Champions League win over Otelul Galati.

Owen was involved in the build-up to Antonio Valencia’s eighth minute opener but now faces another period out on the sidelines.

The 31-year-old suffered a thigh injury while making a run to the near post which he knew immediately meant he would not be able to continue.

The England international was eventually replaced by Javier Hernandez and expressed his own frustrations on Twitter after the match.

Now in his third season at United, Owen was making his 52nd appearance, almost two thirds of which have been as a substitute.

However, he has been blighted by fitness problems since injuring his hamstring during a goalscoring appearance in the 2010 Carling Cup final and now there are fears over how long Owen will be sidelined for once more.

“We are assessing it this morning,” said Ferguson. “He is having a scan done but he won’t be available for Saturday.

“Hopefully it is not too long but it is a killer because he has started the season very well. His performances in training have been terrific.

“We wouldn’t have scored that goal if Michael had not made his run so it is a bit of a blow.”

Ferguson also reported midfielder Anderson was a doubt after suffering a “knock” in the game.

Ashley Young, Chris Smalling and Tom Cleverley will miss Saturday’s clash with Sunderland through injury and will not be involved in England’s forthcoming matches against Spain and Sweden.

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A trio of Manchester United stars showed off their striking skills in a game of football bowling in a new advert for Betfair.

Ashley Young, Patrice Evra and Dimitar Berbatov battle with couch potato and footballing wannabe Chris Weber for the chance to be the winner.

It is all in aid of a bit of fun and to promote Betfair Mobile, where punters can bet from any handset or mobile device accessing thousands of markets on the go.

Driven by cutting-edge technology, the betting exchange community enables customers to bet at odds sought by themselves or offered by other customers.

“It was harder than I thought it would be because of the weight of the ball and having to strike it so low over a relatively short length of space,” Young said.

“Hats off to Patrice and Berba, they showed unbelievable skills. And all I can say about Chris is ‘he tried his best!’”

Find out who won below:

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Sir Alex Ferguson is not one for resting on his laurels, and whilst that is of course a massive cliche is it also incredibly accurate. The Old Trafford boss had to deal with the loss of household names who had notched up over 1000 Premier League appearances among them and set about bringing in replacements for positions he felt he had to improve in the face of what may well be domestic solid but needed a re-think when related to European success.

Whilst clearly the club has some long term financial issues to deal with, soaring interest payments and overall debt levels that are frankly mind boggling are not so easily brushed under the carpet with yearly levels of high turnover, that said Ferguson had money to spend and he spent it wisely and perhaps more importantly, early.

The arrivals of David de Gea, Phil Jones and Ashley Young came before pre-season got into full swing and that has helped to mould the nucleus of a first 11/15 that the Man United boss will look to draw upon across all the major competitions.

The Spanish starlet custodian has been shaky between the sticks but Ferguson has been quick to defend the former Atletico Madrid man and whilst he has perhaps flapped at one or two efforts he has looked solid when it comes to tricky efforts on goal, thus proving that the youngster has what it takes to fill the massive gloves, metaphorically and literally, left by Edwin van der Sar.

Phil Jones is perhaps seen as a long term replacement for Rio Ferdinand, who’s injury problems have become both more pronounced and worryingly regular. Indeed the loss of Nemanja Vidic in the first week of the season left the club looking to Chris Smalling to play out on the right of the defence, a position the England man has excelled in.

The Blackburn Rovers defender has shown maturity beyond his years and could be a stalwart for years to come, whilst a player like Jonny Evans can on occasion, even at age 24, lack conviction and concentration, one can see that Jones has the makings or a far more accomplished centre back than his Northern Irish team-mate.

It is Ashley Young, of the three new additions, that has settled in the best. Ferguson has been linked with a move for the former Aston Villa man and either by luck or design has purchased the winger at his very peak. The 26 year old had a good season in the Midlands last term but now looks ever more the finished article, rushing up the wing with renewed purpose.

Whilst at Villa he at times gave the air of a player who felt he was above his team-mates and frequently thus opted to go it alone and in his early years flitting in and out of games, now no longer a big fish in a small pond the England international looks to have grown. Now opting for quick insightful passing over trying to over elaborate, the results are clear for all to see, even after only a few games in a United shirt he already looks the part and when Luis Antonio Valencia returns it will be Nani, and not Young, who will fight the Ecuadorian for a first team spot.

It was widely reported that as well as these new additions, Ferguson was also looking into bringing in another attack minded midfielder with Inter Milan man Wesley Sneijder high up on the wish-list. As it turned out no move was forthcoming and that was more likely down in part to the Man United manager looking to trust to those at the club to fill such a role and has watched as youngster Tom Cleverley has taken the job on with aplomb.

On the outgoing front, aside from the three giants who called it quits, Edwin van der Sar, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville, those who departed either did so because both club and player realised the time was right to move on to the next challenge or because it became abundantly clear they were not good enough to warrant a place at the club.

John O’Shea and Wes Brown both served a very useful purpose and had fluctuating levels of importance during their respective periods at the club but a move to Sunderland was probably one all parties knew was right. The pair, both of whom garnered an undeserved smattering of ridicule from outside Manchester, amassed over 750 appearances for the club and won a total of ten Premier League titles and three Champions League triumphs as well as numerous other accolades and should therefore deserve more recognition than either get.

Gabriel Obertan, who left for Newcastle United, wholly failed to impress. Whilst the Frenchman did look promising when on reserve duty when push came to shove he really didn’t cut it in the first team and was seemingly always living on borrowed time, failing to make an impact against the then non-league Crawley Town was perhaps the final nail in his Man United career coffin.

Here is a closer look at those who arrived and who left Old Trafford this summer and how they have faired or why they were offloaded.

David De Gea: £17.6m from Atletico Madrid

Shaky start but an undoubted talent and a player who is expected to grow into the a player who can fill the void left by the loss of Edwin van der Sar.

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Manchester United new boy Ashley Young has put aside his boyhood support of Arsenal and claims to have joined the biggest team in the world.

The 26-year-old impressed during the Community Shield and has illustrated why Sir Alex Ferguson was prepared to splash out £18million to snare him from Aston Villa.

But the England international says  it is not so odd for a Gunners fan to find himself wearing the red of an altogether different set of trophy contenders.

“Ian Wright was my hero,” he said. ”But even then, if you asked most kids which team they would like to play for, quite a lot would say Manchester United.

“People judge me differently because I am at the biggest club in the world. I could tell the difference as soon as I got there.

“I wanted to go a club where I could win titles and medals and play in the biggest competitions. I have a chance to do that now.”

And Young knows he is not on his own.

Ferguson has pulled together a number of young English players that could form the core of an England team in the same way as the famed ‘Class of 92′.

Phil Jones, Danny Welbeck, Tom Cleverly and Chris Smalling are all expected to join Young and Wayne Rooney on a permanent basis in the senior national squad.

“Maybe it could be the core of a new England team,” admitted Young.

“I am sure the manager has bought players who are coming through in order to add to the youth we already had.

“After Patrice (Evra) went off (in the Community Shield) I was the oldest player on the pitch at 26.

“It is nice that the players who are coming through are getting that winning mentality and already have a medal that sets us up for the season.”

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Manchester United versus Manchester City. Forget Chelsea and Arsenal. No longer are the Londoners the main threat to United’s Premier League Crown. This was the battle of Manchester.

Last season, City earned their first trophy in 35 years, and United won a record 19^th league title, though were defeated by City en route to the FA Cup Final.

This was a matter of revenge, and boy did United take it.

In this encounter, United’s fourth appearance in the Community Shield in five years, it looked very likely at half time that City would make it two Wembley wins out of two over their arch rivals.

Goals from Joleon Lescott and Edin Dzeko looked to have given the blues an unassailable lead at half time, but the reds had other ideas.

Arguably the better side for the majority of the 90 minutes, United snatched two goals within fifteen minutes of the restart to bring the tie level, with goals from defender Chris Smalling and the ever improving Luis Nani.

With the tie balanced on a knifes edge, and with a dreaded penalty shoot out looming, Nani settled proceedings with a skilful second goal to win the tie for United 3-2.

But what does this mean in the Battle of Manchester? For City, famously dubbed “the noisy neighbours” by Sir Alex, this will serve as a reminder that they are not quite the best team in Manchester.

For United, this is yet another trophy to add to their heaving cabinet – their nineteenth Community Shield victory to date – That’s sixteen more than City have managed, who last won this competition in 1982.

There was little doubt after yesterday’s result that United are still the team to beat in Manchester, and arguably the Premier League as a whole. By the full time whistle, the reds had bossed possession by an astonishingly dominant sixty three percent compared to City’s thirty seven percent. The second half was a red tidal wave of dominance capped off with a deserved solo goal which saw Nani run half the length of the pitch.

As For Manchester City, they will be hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The despairingly manic Mario Balotelli first needlessly clashed heads with Nemanja Vidic, rolled around clutching his face after a fair tackle by Nani and was then hauled off before the hour mark, storming down the tunnel. Vincent Kompany, usually a reliable defender for City, was at fault for the final killer goal.

If this hadn’t just been a “friendly”, Micah Richard’s would surely have seen red for a late, over the top, studs up tackle on new boy Ashley Young as well.

Football won the day yesterday. United played with attacking flair and audacious attitude and had more than a touch of solidity in defence, with Smalling and Jones reminding Ferdinand and Vidic that their first team places are far from safe.

Even City manager Roberto Mancini admitted his team were outclassed, commenting after the game, “maybe they played better than us.”

They did. At half time, staring down the barrel of a two nil defeat, Sir Alex hauled off the aforementioned defenders as well as Michael Carrick in place of youngsters Johnny Evans, Phil Jones and Tom Cleverly.

Many a United fan would have been forgiven for venting frustration at these changes – not quite the players you want to be coming on after half time to claw back a two goal deficit, especially with last seasons joint top goal scorer Dimitar Berbatov warming the bench until the final five minutes.

It would have given United fans the excuse to turn around and claim to the baying City fans that they weren’t taking this match seriously, however.

But the gamble paid dividends as United shockingly and superbly surged forward and snatched two quick fire goals within fifteen minutes of the restart, and there was never any question really who would get the third.

Rooney was quick to rub the salt into City’s wounds after the game, claiming City were taught “a footballing lesson”.

There is not a lot to be gleaned from this game however. After all, it was only an exhibition and City were missing top goal scorer Carlos Tevez and new signing Sergio Aguero.

Arsenal humiliated United in 1998’s competition three goals to nil, and United themselves went on to clinch a treble, of course.

Since 1992 when the Premier League was conceived, only 37 percent of the Community Shield winners have gone on to win the title, that’s seven out of nineteen.

But there is a trend beginning to gain speed. Ever since 2007, every team that has won the Community Shield has won the Premier League.

So maybe there is a little to be taken from this game, that is if you are superstitious.

What it does tell us though is that whilst City can continue to challenge for honours by buying the best, United can always rely on youth.

United’s new winger Ashley Young was the oldest man on the pitch yesterday, with Ryan Giggs sitting out the game. At the ripe old age of twenty six, he was United’s most senior player.

New goalkeeper De Gea, whilst unconvincing for the most part yesterday, is after all only twenty, Chris Smalling is twenty one and his defensive partner Phil Jones, who came on as a second half substitute and looked rock solid, is only nineteen. Johnny Evans is twenty four, Rafael is twenty one, Anderson is twenty three and Cleverly is twenty one.

Nani and Rooney meanwhile are twenty four and twenty five respectively, and Danny Welbeck, who enjoyed a fantastic loan spell with Steve Bruce’s Sunderland last season is only twenty.

And who can forget the ridiculously talented Javier Hernandez? He’s only twenty three, by the way.

The average age of Manchester United’s team yesterday was twenty two. Compare that to Chelsea’s ageing squad – Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba are thirty three, Nicholas Anelka is thirty two, Florent Malouda is thirty one and John Terry is thirty.

Alan Hanson once wrongly stated that “You’ll never win anything with kids” but that theory was once again discredited yesterday.

Indeed, it seems United have been rebuilt yet again under Sir Alex. Gone are Van Der Sar, Gary Neville,  Paul Scholes, Wes Brown and John O Shea. Whilst he may not have the financial clout to compete with City and Chelsea to replace all these players, he does have some wonderful ready made young talent at his disposal, and who can argue with that when they can turn in this sort of performance?

The future at Manchester United seems incredibly bright, especially as it transpired over the weekend that the Glazers look to be paying off £400 million of their £500 million debt.

To City’s credit, they do look like United’s most serious contenders. They can buy three more world class players within the next week without batting an eye lid, and can do the same in January. And who can argue that with Argentina’s two first choice strikers up front, they won’t pose a formidable threat to any team?

If they continue stock piling some of the worlds finest players then it can’t be long before they finally upset the apple cart of the big four. They always have that cash to continuously improve, which must make them one of the favourites this season.

Arsenal have so far failed largely to improve on last seasons fourth place  team, and Chelsea and Tottenham have been surprisingly quiet in the transfer window, presumably content to rely on Fernando Torres and Luka Modric, respectively.

United’s biggest threat, bar Liverpool, has usually come from London in the shape of Arsenal and Chelsea.

But last season United dominated an ageing Chelsea squad and were victorious over them four times out of five.

After City came so close to conquering United for a second time in a row yesterday, perhaps their real enemy is a little bit closer to home.

Only time will tell.

Bring on the new season.

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Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck has been named in England’s provisional 30-man squad for the friendly with Netherlands next Wednesday.

Welbeck made his international debut against Ghana in March after impressing on loan at Sunderland.

Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere is also included despite an ankle injury.

The 27-year-old was the top-scoring Englishman in the Premier League last season with 17 goals for Sunderland and Aston Villa, but was part of the England side that struggled to a 2-2 draw at home to Switzerland in June.

Arsene Wenger, Wilshere’s club manager at the Emirates, had warned that if the midfielder failed to play against Benfica on Saturday he would “certainly” not play against the Dutch.

After having a scan on his injured ankle, Wilshere did not feature in the pre-season friendly, but has been selected by Capello regardless.

Manchester United’s Phil Jones did not make the squad despite reports he had been included on Friday.

Tottenham’s Kyle Walker and Manchester City’s Micah Richards may deputise in his absence, while centre-back Phil Jagielka has been deployed in the position on the last two occasions Johnson has been missing.

Richards only won his first cap under Capello in November and claimed a fortnight ago that he may have to wait for the manager’s departure in the wake of Euro 2012 to resume his international career.

England squad to play Netherlands on 10 August:

Robert Green, Joe Hart, David Stockdale, Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Phil Jagielka, Joleon Lescott, Micah Richards, John Terry, Kyle Walker, Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Stewart Downing, Adam Johnson, Frank Lampard, James Milner, Scott Parker, Jack Wilshere, Ashley Young, Andy Carroll, Peter Crouch, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck (BBC Sport)

A few surprises in this selection and perhaps most surprisingly Darren Bent overlooked for a call up given his good form last term with both Sunderland and Aston Villa, netting 20 goals. Danny Welbeck’s inclusion comes after good form shown during the European Under 21 Championships this summer, surprisingly therefore Chelsea youngster Daniel Sturridge misses out.

This friendly will be Fabio Capello’s chance to look at his charges ahead of the two Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Wales in early September.

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Last Season

Sir Alex Ferguson clinched the Premier League title in the penultimate game of the season at Blackburn Rovers but in truth the Old Trafford side always looked good to wrestle the champions crown from Chelsea and in many ways the season may be considered in the long run as something like the end of an era.

Man United legends Edwin van der Sar, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes all bowed out and have left Ryan Giggs as the last remaining long term veteran, a link to Ferguson’s outrageously successful ‘Fledglings’ but last term also helped to serve as a warning to their rivals that youngsters are beginning to find their feet as the Red Devils look to build on from past successes.

Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez was a bigger success than Ferguson could have ever hoped for, netting 20 goals in his debut season. Young centre back Chris Smalling also showed maturity at the back when injuries and poor form saw the former Maidstone man flung into the deep end, an England call up was a reward for his consistency.

Oddly enough the players who finished as top scorer and top assist maker, Nani and Dimitar Berbatov, ended the season by missing the Champions League Final but both had hugely crucial roles to play in the Premier League title success, though one wonders what the future holds for both players.

Wayne Rooney’s unwise decision to announce his intention to quit the club was expertly handled by Ferguson and after a troubling few weeks where the club’s supporters made it clear they were not happy with his antics, the England man got his form back and all was forgiven, an overhead kick winner against local rivals Man City helped erase that unseemly episode from the supporter’s collective memory.

It was home form that blew all other title rivals out of the water as Man United dropped just two points from the 57 on offer at Old Trafford, an astonishing record that afforded the club the occasional slip up away from home, and these did indeed occur at the likes of Everton (where a 3-1 lead was lost in injury time), defeat at lowly Wolves as well as back to back losses to Chelsea and Liverpool.

In the end the title was secured with nine points to spare though a Champions League Final defeat to Barcelona, the second in three seasons, was something of a crushing blow but in many ways did not take anything away from Man United’s rightful claim to being the Catalan side’s main challenger to the crown of best team in Europe.

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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson insists defender Phil Jones is ready for first-team action straight away.

The Old Trafford boss has sent out a warning to his established centre-half pairing Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand that the 19-year-old is good enough to replace them.

The England U21 international cost £16.5million from Blackburn will compete along with Chris Smalling for a place in United’s defence.

“We first identified Jones when he played for Blackburn’s youth team against us a couple of years ago when they beat us 3-0,” Ferguson told Inside United.

“He was absolutely magnificent.

“You might think he might not play, but the ability he’s got and the determination he’s got, he could quite easily play.

“He’s the future obviously, but he could certainly come in right away.”

Ferguson intends to start with Ashley Young as a left-winger but will consider him in a number of positions, and backed goalkeeper David De Gea to fill the void left by Edwin van der Sar.

“Ashley can play in more than one position,” he added. “He can play wide right, left, even behind the striker, so we have options there.

“But, initially, we’ll start him as a wide left player.”

In relation to De Gea, he added: “We worked hard to get the deal done because it wasn’t easy. Atletico Madrid obviously regarded him very highly.

“But we managed to get it done and we’re delighted he joined us.

“The past is the past and Edwin is part of the past. He had an incredible career with us. He was an incredible goalkeeper. But, hopefully, the future belongs to David De Gea.”

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Manchester United defender Oliver Gill has rejected a new contract with the club to move to Durham University and study Economics.

The 20-year-old has never played for the United first-team, but was an unused substitute on four occasions.

The Surrey-born star was voted Reserve Team Player of the Year last season, and he had a loan spell at Bradford City in 2010.

Gill is the son of United chief executive David Gill and joined the youth academy in 2007 and will seemingly follow his father into business, with Gill Snr having been connected with United for 14 years.

A Red Devils’ spokesperson said: “Oliver was offered a new contract by the club, but he has decided instead to focus on his studies.”

Meanwhile United new boy Ashley Young is pleased with how he has started his Old Trafford career and wants to help the club win more silverware.

“I am just delighted to be here and get myself on the pitch,” he said.

“No disrespect for the Villa boys but as soon as I heard of Manchester United’s interest, I just wanted to get the deal done and start training.

“I can play left, right, off the front striker or as a main striker, so I just have to concentrate on my own game and wherever I am picked, do myself justice.

“The manager bought me for a reason, to get assists and goals and work hard for the team. If I can do that every time I am selected, my job is done.”

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