Japanese side to face United

Gamba Osaka will face the reds in Thursday's World Club Cup semi final after beating Adelaide United 1-0 this morning.

The match, which kicks off at 10.30am, will be shown live on Five.

So what do we know about this team?

Q. Are they any good?

A. Well they are officially the best team in Asia, but they concede an awful lot of goals and look dodgy at the back.

Q. Do they have much history?

A. Not really. They were founded in 1980 and were founder members of the Japanese J-League three years later and have stayed their ever since.

They won the league in 2005, these days, they get 17,000 fans for home games at the Expo 1970 Stadium in Suita, Osaka (pictured left).

Q. How did they get this far?

A. Having finished third in their domestic league in 2007, they qualified for the AFC Cup - the Asian equivalent of the Champions League.

Having won that, beating Adelaide in the final 5-0 on aggregate, they were given a place in the World Club Cup quarter finals and, after Adelaide got their via a different route, they beat them again.

Q. What's their league form like?

A. Average. The Japanese J-League ran from March 8 to December 6. Gamba finished 8th.

They played 34 games, won 14, drew 8 and lost 12, ending on 50 points - 12 short of the champions.

Q. Who will be their most threatening player?

A. Yasuhito Endo (pictured right), a versatile midfielder who scored Gamba's winner over Adelaide and notched up eight assists in the league this year.

Q. How much chance have they of beating United?

A. Well, more than Adelaide. They've beaten the Australians three times in the last two months.

But overall, they won't be much of a threat. Betfair have United as 1.02 (1/50) to win the game. It's 1.01 for a draw and 2.18 for a Gamba win.

United are 1.3 favourites to win the competition, with LDU Quito second favourites at 5.0.

Theseare the quarter final highlights.

Tottenham v United highlights

Tottenham V Man United

Sunday scouting report

Next Thursday, the current United side will go into uncharted waters and play either an Australian side or a Japanese team - neither of which we know much about.

So why not find out for yourself just how good these teams are?

Tomorrow, at 10.45am, the teams play in the quarter final to determine who will play United in the semi final.

Links to video streams of the game will be posted here five hours before kick off.

5,800 tickets for Derby

United fans will get 5,800 tickets for the Carling Cup semi final first leg match away to Derby on January 7.

They will cost £27.50 for adults, £16.75 for over 60s and £11.75 for under 16s.

Executive Members and Season Ticket holders who went to cup home games against Villarreal, Middlesbrough, Celtic, QPR and Blackburn home cup games can apply for tickets until 8am on Monday by calling 0161 868 8000 and choosing option 1 twice.

The club is running coaches to the game, which leave the Old Trafford W2 car park at 4.30pm and are expected to arrive back at midnight. To book, click here.

If you're driving to Spurs...

...please be aware that a serious accident took place on the M6 motorway this morning, which has closed the motorway in both directions between junctions 6 and 7 near Birmingham.
It is likely that the road will be closed throughout today and possibly tomorrow. Check the BBC Travel pages for updates before you set off.

Reds to discover Japan opponents

United will discover on Sunday who they will face in the World Club Cup semi final, to be played in Yokohama at 10.30am UK time a week today.
This morning in Tokyo, Australian team Adelaide United beat New Zealand outfit Waitakere United 2-1 in a play off game
Adelaide will play Japanese side Gamba Osaka on Sunday in Toyota, Japan.

Possible Champions League last 16 opponents...

...are Inter Milan, Sporting Lisbon, Athletico Madrid, Lyon and Real Madrid.
The draw takes place live on Sky Sports News at 11am on Friday December 19.
United will definitely be away in the first leg, which will take place on either February 24 or 25.
However, there is the possibility that, if both Liverpool and United draw Madrid sides, one of those first leg matches would take place on March 3 or 4.
If United draw Athletico Madrid, fans would be permitted to travel to the match. Athletico did get a ban on fans for two games. They served one of them against PSV Eindhoven and then had the other game ban thrown out - as long as the fans behave themselves until the end of the season.