United aim to end Dynamo challenge

Manchester United FC welcome Group F's bottom team FC Dynamo Kyiv to Old Trafford knowing a fourth consecutive win in the UEFA Champions League could potentially earn them early qualification for the last 16.

• If Sir Alex Ferguson's side win and Sporting Clube de Portugal fail to take all three points at home to AS Roma, then United's place in the first knockout round will be assured. A draw would also suffice in the event of a Sporting defeat.

• For their part, Dynamo will be eliminated if they pick up fewer points at Old Trafford than Roma manage to take from their visit to Sporting.

• The Ukrainian champions are one of only three clubs without a point halfway through the group stage following their 4-2 home defeat by United on Matchday 3.

• United took control in Kiev through early goals from Rio Ferdinand (10 minutes) and Wayne Rooney (18). Although Diogo Rincón pulled a goal back (34), Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice (41, 68) to put the game beyond the hosts and render Ismaël Bangoura's late effort (78) academic.

• United had previously recorded victories at Sporting and at home against Roma. Cristiano Ronaldo's 62nd-minute header settled the Matchday 1 fixture in Lisbon, while Wayne Rooney got the winner against Roma with 20 minutes remaining.

• A fourth successive win would represent United's best start to a UEFA Champions League campaign since 2002/03, when they last managed that feat. They won their opening three games last season before losing 1-0 at FC København in their fourth outing.

• Dynamo started their Group F campaign with a 2-0 defeat at Roma, after which József Szabó replaced Anatoliy Demyanenko as coach. They subsequently lost 2-1 at Sporting Clube de Portugal on Matchday 2, first-half strikes from Tonel and Anderson Polga sandwiching Vladyslav Vaschuk's effort for the home side.

• The Ukrainian champions have not advanced beyond the first group stage since 1999/00 and have not won any of their last ten matches in the UEFA Champions League – losing eight of them.

• Dynamo's last victory in the competition came on 23 November 2004 during Szabó's last spell in charge, when a Traianos Dellas own goal and Maxim Shatskikh strike secured a 2-0 home success against Roma.

• United have won seven straight home games in the UEFA Champions League and lost just one of their last 31 fixtures at Old Trafford. The solitary defeat of that sequence came against AC Milan in February 2005.

• Dynamo have recorded a draw and five defeats in their last six away matches in the competition. The last time they took three points on their travels was in September 2004 when they were awarded a 3-0 default win against AS Roma after the game was abandoned because a missile struck referee Anders Frisk.

• The Ukrainian team's last outright win away from home in the competition was on 8 March 2000, 2-1 at Rosenborg BK.

• Dynamo's previous seven visits to England have yielded six defeats with the only respite a 1-1 draw at Arsenal FC in the 1998/99 group stage.

• The only previous meetings between Dynamo and United date back to the 2000/01 first group stage. Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Mikaël Silvestre are the only current United players who featured in the sides' first encounter, a 0-0 draw in Kiev on 19 September 2000. Of the Dynamo team, Valentin Belkevich, Vladyslav Vaschuk, Maksim Shatskikh and Olexandr Shovkovskiy all remain at the club.

• United won the return 1-0 on 8 November 2000 through an 18th-minute goal from Teddy Sheringham to secure second place in the section, with Dynamo finishing fourth.

• The full lineups that day were:
United: Fabien Barthez, Phil Neville, Gary Neville, Wes Brown, Denis Irwin, David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs, Teddy Sheringham, Andrew Cole.
Dynamo: Olexandr Shovkovskiy, Olexandr Holovko, Vladyslav Vaschuk, Andriy Nesmachniy, Kakha Kaladze, László Bodnar, Vitaliy Lysytskiy, Aleksandr Khatskevich, Aleksei Gerasimenko, Valentin Belkevich, Maksim Shatskikh.

• Dynamo's Serhiy Rebrov had a spell in English football with Tottenham Hotspur FC. He appeared twice in Premier League matches against United, both in the 2001/02 season, and tasted defeat on both occasions: 5-3 at home and 4-0 at Old Trafford.