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Manchester United have never beaten a German club in a two-legged Champions League knockout tie. This is their fifth attempt and they are up against opponents with a perfect home record in this season's competition.

Schalke, however, have a few injury concerns. Benedikt Howedes, the roaming, goalscoring centre-back, might have to join Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Mario Gavranovic and Peer Kluge on the sidelines.

Alex Ferguson rested Patrice Evra, Ryan Giggs and Nemanja Vidic at the weekend, so they will start this match. Dimitar Berbatov might be injured, but probably would not have started anyway, while Darren Fletcher is recovering from a virus.

Match Odds

Schalke have won 5/5 CL games at the Veltins Arena, but lost at home to relegation-threatened Kaiserslautern in the Bundesliga on Saturday and are five Champions League games - home and away - without a clean sheet. Despite an upturn in results since Ralf Rangnick replaced Felix Magath a month ago, they will finish the domestic season in mid-table and have currently scored fewer goals than anyone else above the bottom four.

United had the nous to win away to Chelsea in the first leg of their quarter-final. Schalke's defenders do not mark opponents very closely and will struggle to contain the movements of Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez. 2.34 looks a generous win price for the visitors.

Over / Under Goals

Manchester United have reached the semi-finals this season because of excellence defence - only three goals conceded in 10 games - rather than outstanding attack - they have scored 12 times in those matches, the other three semi-finalists have each scored at least 21 times in getting to this stage.

Schalke are designed to counter-attack. Sir Alex Ferguson has decades more experience than, say, Leonardo, the Internazionale coach who confronted Schalke head-on and lost 7-3 on aggregate in the last round. The Scot's tactics will not favour the Germans' daring 4-2-3-1 formation. That's why Under 2.5 Goals is the 1.71 favourite.

Man Utd Win to Nil

Manchester United have kept clean sheets in 5/5 Champions League away games this season and in 13/18 over a longer period. When they are all fit and available, Edwin van der Sar, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic look as solid as ever. They are the base upon which a United win in this match will be built. The identity of the right-back could be a small worry, but the United Win to Nil has paid out in four of those five abovementioned games and is appealingly priced at 4.1 for this match.

Correct Score

Three of the five games have finished 1-0 to United, which is a 8.0 option in the Correct Score market, but this column has too many concerns about Schalke's back four - cumbersome centre-halves, attacking full-backs who leave space behind themselves - to rule out United scoring more than once.

Top Stat: Manchester United have kept clean sheets in 5/5 Champions League away games this season
Best Bet: Back Manchester United @ 2.34 to win
Recommended Bet: Back Manchester United @ 4.1 to Win to Nil

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