Manchester United vs CSKA Moscow preview: Louis van Gaal's men hoping to end goal drought

A look ahead to the Champions League fixture at Old Trafford

(Getty Images)

It’s a big game for…

ANTHONY MARTIAL: With Wayne Rooney struggling to find any sort of form in a Manchester United shirt, the onus is on the 19-year-old Frenchman to come up with a source of goals. After four goals in his first four games, he’s netted just once in his last eight matches in all competitions during United’s barren run of goalscoring form.

Best stat…

325: The number of minutes since Manchester United last found the back of the net in all competitions. Martial scored that goal a fortnight ago in Russia but their last three games have all finished 0-0 and they have only registered eight shots on target during that period.

Remember when…

Exactly six years ago to the day these two met at Old Trafford in a thrilling 3-3 draw in the Champions League group stages. The Russian side led 3-1 with six minutes to go, but late goals from Paul Scholes and a deflected Antonio Valencia strike were enough to ensure United’s unbeaten record in Group B stayed intact. Both sides were knocked out in the quarter-finals by the eventual finalists, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan.

Player to watch…

SEYDOU DOUMBIA: The 27-year-old striker returned to CSKA on a season-long loan in the summer after an unsuccessful seven months at Roma and has refound his goalscoring touch to devastating effect. He’s scored 11 goals in 15 games this season, with six of the goals coming in five Champions League appearances. He also has an excellent record against English clubs having scored five goals against Manchester City in the previous two seasons.

Past-three meetings…

CSKA Moscow 1 (Doumbia) Manchester United 1 (Martial), Champions League, October 2015

Manchester United 3 (Owen, Scholes, Valencia) CSKA Moscow 3 (Dzagoev, Krasic, Berezutski), Champions League, November 2009

CSKA Moscow 0 Manchester United 1 (Valencia), Champions League, October 2009

Form guide…

Manchester United: LWDDL*D

CSKA Moscow: WWDDWW

(* = lost on penalties after draw in normal time).

Vital information…

KICK-OFF TIME: 7.45pm, Tuesday, 3 November

TV: Live on BT Sport Europe, Highlights on ITV1 from 10pm, Wednesday, 4 November