CSKA Moscow without five players for crunch Champions League clash against Manchester United

KEY POINTS

Vasili Berezutski, Georgi Schennikov and Georgi Milanov have all been ruled out through injury.
Pontus Wernbloom and Bibras Natkho are both suspended for Old Trafford clash.

CSKA Moscow have travelled to England with a squad of just 17 players for their final Champions League group stage clash against Manchester United.

United top Group A by three points ahead of the final round of fixtures this week and only a six-goal defeat at Old Trafford on Tuesday (5 December) will deny them a place in the knockout stages of the competition.

CSKA, meanwhile, are tied with FC Basel on nine points and will need to better the Swiss champions' result against bottom side Benfica if they are to stand a chance of joining United in the last 16.

A win for CSKA with Basel failing to beat pointless Benfica would be enough for Viktor Goncharenko's side, but that task will be made all the more difficult with a host of players absent through injury and suspension.

Veteran defender Vasili Berezutski and midfielder Georgi Milanov have been ruled out for the remainder of the year after both suffered a fractured fibula in the same match against SKA-Khabarovsk – with the latter undergoing surgery in late November.

Elsewhere, left-back Georgi Schennikov is another who is not expected to return until 2018 due to a fractured ankle suffered in the win over Benfica on matchday five.

Pontus Wernbloom, who has scored five goals in his last six matches after being moved from his usual midfield berth into a more advanced role up front, has made the trip to Manchester but will serve a suspension on Tuesday night along with Bibras Natkho.

As far as United are concerned, Paul Pogba seems certain to feature on Tuesday after picking up a straight red card in Saturday's win over Arsenal which will see him suspended for his side's next three Premier League matches.

With a huge clash with neighbours Manchester City looming on Sunday, Jose Mourinho could be tempted to rest some of his key players with Nemanja Matic one possible candidate, having initially been considered a major doubt for Arsenal before completing the full 90 minutes.