GOALKEEPERS

1-Edwin van der Sar (36) — Joined United from Fulham in May 2005 for £2 million ($3.96 million) and has had a fine season, although his form wavered slightly in the later stages of the campaign.

29-Tomasz Kuszczak (25) — Polish international and competent reserve for Van der Sar.

DEFENDERS

5-Rio Ferdinand (28) — Has re-established himself as a top-class defender since his eight-month ban in 2004 imposed for missing a drugs test.

6-Wes Brown (27) — His career has been curtailed by a series of injuries, but he is a dependable centre-back or right-back who has played in the majority of United’s matches this season.

15-Nemanja Vidic (25) — The Serbian centre-back is a physically tough defender who imposes himself on opponents.

3-Patrice Evra (26) — The Senegal-born French international was vying with Gabriel Heinze for the left-back position for much of the season until the Argentine took possession of it after recovering from injury.

4-Gabriel Heinze (29) — One of the finest left-backs Now back to his best, but may find himself starting on the bench on Saturday with Evra in the starting line-up.

MIDFIELDERS

22-John ’Shea (26) — Can play in either defence or midfield and is particularly dangerous when he moves forward on set-pieces.

16-Michael Carrick (25) — He has been in outstanding form recently, scoring two particularly fine goals in United’s 7-1 Champions League rout of AS Roma last month.

18-Paul Scholes (32) — An eye problem caused him to miss the second half of last season, but he has been outstanding this season.

7-Cristiano Ronaldo (22) — The Portuguese winger has had a memorable season after being widely vilified in England for the role he played in Wayne Rooney’s sending-off in the World Cup against Portugal last year.

11-Ryan Giggs (33) — Captain in place of the injured Gary Neville, will become the joint-most decorated player in the history of English football if United win on Saturday.

24-Darren Fletcher (23) — The Scot has impressed with a series of industrious midfield displays this season.

FORWARDS

8-Wayne Rooney (21) — After a miserable 2006, which saw him injured against Chelsea and then sent off in the World Cup, Rooney has had a good season with 23 goals in all competitions. Usually does well on the big occasion and likely to give the Chelsea defence plenty to worry about.

14-Alan Smith (26) — Now fit again after missing virtually a year of his playing career with serious leg and ankle injuries. His natural position is as a striker but he is also an outstanding midfielder.