United lost the European show piece that is the Super Cup this evening, slipping to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Zenit St Petersburg.

The Russian UEFA Cup winners had the upper hand for the majority of the game, and were two up inside the hour mark. A rare Vidic strike after good work from Tevez and Rooney gave Ferguson’s men hope but, despite a late rally, United couldn’t find the equaliser.

Ferguson made several changes to his lineup, handing both Neville and Nani much-needed starts after injury and suspension respectively. Anderson also got a start in central midfield alongside Scholes, with Hargreaves and Carrick both still sidelined. Scholes saw red in the final minutes for two bookable offences and will now miss United’s first Champions League group match.

The plus for us fantasy managers is that United emerged from the game without injury and we can now begin assessing their players for the Premiership fixtures beginning with the trip to Anfield on September 13.

Tevez was once again the stand-out performer tonight, while Nani’s start appears to indicate that he is likely to go straight into the side for the Liverpool clash. Elsewhere of course, much will depend on how Ferguson fairs in the transfer market in the next 48 hours with the Berbatov situation still unclear.

There is uncertainty then and, given that United follow the tough fixture at Liverpool with a trip to Stamford Bridge, it appears it’s worth holding fire for a week or so to see how things sort themselves out with Ferguson’s lineup.