UNITED home in on a four-match run at Old Trafford following today's trip to Sunderland with two targets in mind writes CHRIS SUDLOW

They can confirm a place in the second group phase of the Champions League - and ensure their Premiership challenge remains on course.

The visits of Deportivo La Coruna (Wednesday), Olympiakos (Wed, 24) and Leeds (Sat, 27) will see the first team of Keane, Beckham, Van Nistelrooy, Veron and Co in action.

Next Saturday Wanderers, their other opponents in this sequence, should not feel insulted if some of these big names are rested.

This week in Athens, United finally recaptured the away form which has been so absent from their displays in Europe of late.

It was a stunning performance to inflict the first ever home defeat in the Champions League on their Greek opponents.

It brought back memories of that extraordinary 3-2 fight-back win at Juventus on the way to the 1999 Final victory.

Against Olympiakos, Veron and Beckham took the plaudits and headlines: Veron for a display of the highest skill and endeavour, Beckham for yet another vital goal as well.

Next Saturday the 3,000 Wanderers fans in the 67,000 sell-out crowd will be quite happy if these two are missing.

However, it might be the "second" team as some newspapers call it, they will be facing, with Dwight Yorke, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Phil Neville and the like donning the famous red jersey.

But they are internationals one and all, and equal to the task in all but a few games in the Premiership . . . just ask Everton (beaten 4-0) or Ipswich (2-0).