Leeds (3) v Partizan Belgrade (1)
David O'Leary will be looking to celebrate a year as Leeds manager today with a feat not equalled since the days when it was first achieved under the legendary Don Revie.
O'Leary has revelled in his managerial role and relished the challenge, none more so than in Europe where Leeds face Partizan Belgrade in the second leg of their UEFA Cup first-round tie.
Victory will be United's sixth in a row in all competitions, a run which has yet to be matched since Revie's side won their first seven games of the 1973/74 season en route to the First Division title.
Records matter little to O'Leary but the win is everything. "We will play our normal game, which is to go forward and try to score goals," he said yesterday. "Obviously everything is buzzing here at the moment. We're doing great, but I don't get carried away with it.
"With me being greedy we've got to tighten up and stop giving silly goals away. But we're still capable of scoring and exciting people."
David Hopkin should return to the team having recovered from a dead leg which forced him out of the win over Newcastle, while skipper Lucas Radebe should be given the all-clear despite a knee injury picked up at the weekend.
FC Zimbru (0) v Tottenham (3)
Les Ferdinand and Tim Sherwood are the latest Tottenham players to add to George Graham's injury woes - with Ferdinand facing the prospect of an operation to clear up his latest problem. Both players were missing from the squad that flew out to Moldova for tonight's second leg against FC Zimbru.
Ferdinand is struggling to shake off an ankle injury he picked up against Bradford nearly three weeks ago and a decision will be taken by the weekend over whether he must undergo surgery.
Sherwood has been carrying a groin injury and manager Graham has decided to rest the England midfielder from the travelling party, who come to Chisinau defending a comfortable lead from the first leg.
The duo join a casualty list which also includes captain Sol Campbell, Darren Anderton, John Scales and summer signing Willem Korsten.
Centre-half Scales also failed to travel after breaking down in training with a recurring calf problem, but fellow defender Ramon Vega is in the party and may make his first appearance since breaking a foot in last season's League Cup final.
Graham has drafted Northern Ireland under-21 striker Paul McVeigh into the squad.
FC Osijek (0) v West Ham (3)
Harry Redknapp insists West Ham will not sit back on their three-goal lead tonight in Osijek despite the return of defensive duo Rio Ferdinand and Neil Ruddock to his squad. The Croatians were hammered 3-0 at Upton Park two weeks ago and, even though he has the sudden luxury of defensive cover, Redknapp will send his players out with orders to snatch a vital away goal which should guarantee them a place in the UEFA Cup second round.
"We'll go out and give it a go like we have in the other matches," said Redknapp. "If we score it makes it very difficult for them. I certainly wouldn't want to sit back and invite pressure for 90 minutes. They have got to attack. That might give us space to exploit."
Ferdinand will start in Croatia after missing four games with an ankle injury. "Rio will start and hopefully we'll get 50 or 60 minutes out of him," said Redknapp.
Ruddock has not played since pulling a hamstring in the first leg of the Intertoto semi-final against Heerenveen in July, and Redknapp was happy to include him in the squad which flew out yesterday.
There was more good news for West Ham's defence when tests proved Javier Margas would not need surgery on a knee problem.
Newcastle (2) v CSKA Sofia (0)
Newcastle are facing a major injury crisis as they prepare for their UEFA Cup clash with CSKA Sofia tonight. Manager Bobby Robson has already been forced to rule out midfielder Kieron Dyer with a groin injury, and both Rob Lee and understudy Jamie McClen are struggling.
With Duncan Ferguson and Temuri Ketsbaia both sidelined, Robson has had to abandon plans to rest Alan Shearer for what, with a full-strength side, should have been a formality after a 2-0 first-leg victory in Bulgaria a fortnight ago.
Silvio Maric, who was not on the trip to Bulgaria after being disciplined for missing a team lunch, is one of the main candidates to partner or provide support to Shearer despite not starting a game all season.
Second-half goals from Peruvian Nolberto Solano and Georgian Ketsbaia put United firmly in the driving seat in Sofia, but the manager is taking nothing for granted, especially with his depleted squad. "I don't know what the statistics are, but I can remember some escapades in Europe where teams have gone away and won difficult matches from deficit," Robson said. "We can't think it's over. We'll compete, don't worry about that."
Hapoel Tel Aviv (0) v Celtic (2)
Celtic head coach John Barnes last night played down suggestions of a rift between himself and Jonathan Gould after the goalkeeper's angry reaction to being left out at the weekend.
Barnes would not reveal whether Gould or Dmitri Kharine will keep goal for Celtic against Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel tonight. Defending a 20 first leg advantage, Barnes knows it may prove a busy evening for whoever is selected to play at the Bloomfield Stadium.
Gould made it public yesterday that he left Barnes in no doubt as to how upset he was at being demoted to the bench for Saturday's 2-0 win against Hibernian at Easter Road. But Barnes stressed yesterday that while the Scotland squad man had asked him to explain why he was being rested there were no harsh words exchanged during discussions.
"It's the nature of football at the top level that you have a big squad of quality players. All that happened was that Jonathan made it known to me he wasn't happy about his situation," said Barnes.
As to tonight's challenge, Barnes said: "Hapoel are an attacking team and we have to be wary, but I still feel confident we can score. I'd be disappointed if we lost 3-0."
