United’s 2:0 victory at Veltins Arena seems to have put the tie beyond doubt, although Schalke will try everything to keep their final hopes alive for as long as possible.

Following the impressive showing in Germany, the Red Devils were punished for the under-par performance against Arsenal, with the defeat at the Emirates giving Chelsea a chance to get back to the title race.

Seeing that Manchester United will host Chelsea on Sunday in what will be the Premiership title decider, Sir Alex Ferguson has hinted that he will give some star players a rest against Schalke.

Nonetheless, even without several first team regulars, United remain hot favourites to win this match with home win paying 1.44 (4/9) at Paddy Power.

Paul Scholes, Michael Owen and Dimitar Berbatov should start, while Rafael could also play some part after recovering from injury.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Van der Sar – Rafael, Vidic, Smalling, Evra – Valencia, Anderson, Scholes, Giggs – Berbatov, Owen.

Schalke have achieved quite a coup by qualifying for the Champions League semi-finals, but the first leg against Manchester United showed that the Germans don’t really deserve to be among the European giants.

Ralf Rangnick’s side were completely outclassed at their Veltins Arena and if it hadn’t been for the magnificent Manuel Neuer, Schalke would have suffered an embarrassing defeat.

The Germans have continued the poor run of results, having lost 4:1 to Bayern at the weekend, so it is highly unlikely they will manage to get something from Old Trafford.

Schalke are 8.50 (15/2) with Victor Chandler to win at Old Trafford, which shows the gap in quality between the two sides.

Ralf Rangnick still has some doubts over the fitness of Benedikt Howedes, but the youngster should be able to start this game. Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Mario Gavranovic, Christian Pander and Tim Hoogland remain sidelined.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Neuer – Uchida, Howedes, Metzelder, Sergio – Farfan, Papadopoulos, Kluge, Jurado – Raul, Edu.