Sir Alex Ferguson and his team's New Year's Resolution will be to perform more consistently and string together more Premiership wins and look to start the resolution on Day 1 of 2005.

The Red Devils make the trip to the North East to take on Steve McClaren's Middlesbrough side, who are in definite contention for a Champions League slot this year. McClaren learnt everything he currently knows off mentor Ferguson whilst acting as No.2 at Old Trafford a few years back.

Part-time England assistant and full-time Boro boss McClaren has always had a decent record when playing against his old club.

Earlier this year in February, Middlesbrough took away a maximum 3 points from Old Trafford after a shocking 3-2 victory in which costly defensive errors guided Boro to the win.

Much to the delight of the United faithful, Chelsea and Spurs join the Red Devils on top of the Premiership form-table with the 3 sides sides picking up 16 points from their last 6 games.

Speaking ahead of the New Year's Day clash and regarding his side's run of good form, Sir Alex Ferguson stated: "We performed well at Villa apart from the last 15 minutes and we showed a lot of character to get us through a tricky game."

"It will be much the same at Boro, although they have a far more experienced side than Villa."

The experience Ferguson stated seems to be delivering domestically and in Europe for Boro. The Teesiders are flying in the UEFA Cup and are running smoothly in 5th in the league.

Chris Riggott and Mark Viduka are both minor doubts but George Boateng, Ugo Ehiogu and Malcolm Christie will all miss the clash.  

As for United, Gary Neville and Eric Djemba-Djemba return to the 16 after picking up a flu virus. David Bellion is expected to be called into the starting line-up following Wayne Rooney's suspension and injuries to Ruud van Nistelrooy and Louis Saha.

ManUtdWeb Prediction: Manchester United 1 - 0 Middlesbrough - We must win these type of away games if we want to push up the table and challenge for the title. Considering our great form, I expect us to win this one. C'Mon United!