Vidic vs Adebayor: Mutual respect

28/04/2009 09:55, Report by Adam Bostock

Vidic vs Adebayor: Mutual respect

Nemanja Vidic and direct opponent Emmanuel Adebayor have been trading praise ahead of United’s tantalising Champions League semi-final with Arsenal.

Serbian defender Vidic believes the Gunners will provide a stern test in the first leg at Old Trafford, especially now the likes of striker Adebayor are approaching top gear.

"Arsenal have always been a good team with quality players. We know and respect that, and now they're on good form - they have started scoring goals (again),” said Vidic.

“Adebayor and van Persie are very difficult forwards to play against. They are great players, they have speed and an eye for a goal.

"We need to concentrate fully for 90 minutes if we are to stop them.”

Adebayor has scored four goals in his last six games for Arsenal, including one in each leg of the Champions League quarter-final victory over Villarreal.

The Togo international also netted in his last appearance at Old Trafford – but the fact Vidic missed that game, an eventual 2-1 win for United, will not have been lost on him.

“Vidic is a very good player, he knows how to play against strikers,” said Adebayor. "He's very strong and he's ready to give his life away for United.

"For me, he's one of the toughest defenders - he prevents a lot of goals. He scores important goals for his club too.”

Emmanuel Adebayor was quoted on FIFA.com.

Betting: Arsenal

28/04/2009 13:44, Report by Jon Wilde, Betfred

Betting: Arsenal

United go into their Champions League semi-final against Arsenal as 9/4 second favourites to retain the trophy, with Barcelona 7/4 ahead of their clash with Chelsea.

The Gunners are the 7/2 outsiders to triumph in Rome on May 27, with Chelsea 10/3 to atone for their disappointment in Moscow last year.

Firstly, there's the small matter of Arsenal's visit to Old Trafford, and it’s 5/6 that the Reds win at Old Trafford and take an advantage to the Emirates Stadium next Tuesday, with Arsenal priced at 10/3 and the draw at 5/2. Overall, United are 8/13 favourites to reach the final and Arsene Wenger’s side 6/5 to qualify from the tie.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, who both scored two goals against Tottenham on Saturday, are 4/1 joint favourites to score first. Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tevez are both 5/1.

A special offer is available via www.manutd.com/bet. If you back a player to score the first goal and he scores the goal rather than the first, your stake will be refunded as a free bet.

Arsenal semi

Arsenal semi

The ManUtd.com team documents the build-up to the Champions League semi-final with Arsenal, from Carrington and Old Trafford. Post your comments on the Talking Reds thread...

Tuesday 28 April

16:13 Sir Alex was asked in his press conference: 'Do you expect these to be good games? Or don’t you care?' to which the journalist earned a riled riposte: "Of course I care! I hope they're really good games; I hope we play fantastic football and win. I respect Arsenal’s ability to play football – and it could be a cracker." Let’s hope so. Adam Bostock will be reporting from Arsene Wenger's media briefing at 17:00, which is followed by Arsenal training on the OT pitch. (BH)

14:58 It seems Sir Alex is debating whether to go all out in attack - as suggested earlier (see 11:50), with Tevez, Rooney, Ronaldo and Berba - or making sure we don't concede (boo). He says: "The second-half performance against Tottenham and the way Carlos Tevez changed the game is not not lost on me. But we need to win without conceding. I’d be delighted to win 1-0 and take that to the Emirates." (BH)

14:52 The Gaffer was in good spirits, as you would expect for a man with virtually no injury worries ahead of one of the biggest games of the season. Edwin van der Sar, meanwhile, looked in danger of nodding off as Sir Alex fielded most of the questions. (SB)

13:43 We're heading over to the press conference now, where Sir Alex and Edwin van der Sar will be grilled by the world's media. It'll be interesting to see what they've got to say ahead of such a massive game. (Nick Coppack)

12:45 Does anybody else miss the slanging matches between Sir Alex and Arsene Wenger? The longest-serving managers in the league have served up some of the best verbal sparring in living memory, but it's all gone friendly recently. Check out this quote from the Arsenal manager this week: "[Earning Sir Alex's respect] is one of the privileges of getting older! Our respect will survive the two games." We'll see... (Steve Bartram)

11:50 I'd like to see United go for the kill tomorrow - Arsenal's defence looks shaky. None of this keep it tight business. On the back of Saturday's second-half, my starting XI would be: Edwin; Rafael, Rio, Vida, Evra; Ronny, Carrick, Fletch, Rooney; Tevez, Berbatov. Post your comments and your XI's on Talking Reds. (BH)

11:43 We'll bring you all the latest from United's press conference at 14:00 BST, then we'll bring you any news from Arsenal's press conference and their training session on the pitch.

10.30 Ben Hibbs via phone - I've been at Carrington watching the lads train. Everyone's in good spirits and, apart from the obvious absentees - Neville and Hargreaves - Sir Alex has a full squad to pick from which is a big bonus. Anderson's always the jester of the group, and Fletch was getting stick for being nutmegged by Welbeck in the warm-up.

Training squad (24 players): Van der Sar, Foster, Kuszczak; Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, Rafael, O'Shea, Evans, Brown; Ronaldo, Park, Giggs, Nani, Anderson, Scholes, Fletcher, Gibson, Carrick; Rooney, Tevez, Berbatov, Welbeck, Macheda

Cheers!