United have not yet guaranteed their place in the knockout stages of this competition, but it would take a drastically unlikely set of results for them to miss out this evening - to the extent that we can say with full confidence that they will be playing in the last 16. It is not so straightforward for CSKA, though, and they must pull off a shock here in addition to hoping results elsewhere go their way.

I will take you through all of the permutations a little later, but for now let's have a look at the team news...

Well, there are plenty of things to note about Manchester United's selection, chief among them a very rare start for Luke Shaw at left-back. The defender has been regularly and publicly criticised by Jose Mourinho over the past season-and-a-half, and has been linked with an exit in January, but he finally gets the nod in defence today.

It is Shaw's first appearance for the club since October 24, and he has only played 48 minutes of football across all competitions this season.

Lukaku scored 11 goals in his first 10 outings for United across all competitions, but he has since managed just one in his last 12 games and another blank tonight may raise the question as to who will start in Sunday's derby, despite Mourinho insisting that he is happy with the Belgian's contribution.

Sergio Romero fills in between the sticks when Herrera and Blind come into the midfield, but Paul Pogba does retain this place ahead of the beginning of his three-match domestic ban.

Smalling and Lindelof also retain their places from the weekend win over Arsenal, although it looks as though United will revert to four at the back, with Blind expected to play in midfield.

There are also five changes from their last Champions League outing, but for the likes of Lingard and Martial - who both drop to the bench - that is probably a compliment as Mourinho now appears to favour them for the derby at the weekend due to their recent form.

Wernbloom in particular is a blow having thrived since being moved into a more advanced attacking role, scoring five times in his last six matches. Wernbloom is also a Sweden teammate of Lindelof and a former teammate of Romero from their AZ Alkmaar days, so he would have fancied coming up against a couple of familiar faces.

The 19-year-old is expected to be tasked with leading the line this evening, with Vitinho - scorer of two penalties at the weekend - and the dangerous Alan Dzagoev in support alongside him.

Behind them is Igor Akinfeev, who finally put an end to his dreadful run of games without a Champions League clean sheet on matchday five, keeping the opponent at bay for the first time in his last 44 games in the Champions League proper with the win over Benfica.

Benfica have been really disappointing this season, but CSKA will be hoping that they can turn it on tonight as a point for them would be enough if Basel lose. Simply put, CSKA must better Basel's result tonight to qualify, with both sides locked on nine points, and if both sides win then CSKA must beat United by three goals to progress and by five goals to go through as group winners - something which isn't going to happen.

A point guarantees qualification as group winners, and United can even afford to lose by six goals and still go through. Should United lose tonight and Basel fail to beat Benfica then United and CSKA would go through, with top spot then decided by head to head. Considering United won the reverse 4-1, that is likely to go the way of Jose Mourinho's side.

Even then, though, United would have to lose by seven (yes, SEVEN) goals to be eliminated, and by five to even lose top spot. As I said before, that ain't gonna happen, folks.

The Red Devils had won all four of their opening Champions League group games this season before that defeat, although they now face the prospect of losing back-to-back matches in this competition for the first time since 2012, when they were beaten by Galatasaray and Cluj.

This is United's first appearance in the Champions League group stages since 2015-16, and they have not reached the knockout stages since 2013-14, so it has been a while since the club were where they feel they belong on this stage.

Mourinho's side have won all 10 of their matches at Old Trafford across all competitions, scoring 29 goals in the process and conceding just twice. United have kept eight clean sheets in that time too, whilst scoring exactly four goals in a game in half of their home outings this term.

Should United avoid defeat tonight as expected then they would equal their club record of 40 consecutive home games without defeat in all competitions, in addition to wrapping up a perfect Champions League group stage on home soil too.

Their group-stage record stretches back even further to December 2012's shock loss at the hands of Cluj - one of only two losses United have suffered at home in the group stages of this competition from the last 48 attempts.

That triumph also saw United complete a clean sweep of the European trophies, becoming one of only a handful of clubs to have lifted the European Cup/Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League and the Cup Winners' Cup.

The Russian outfit have regularly appeared in the competition since then, but more often they not they find themselves towards the bottom of each group. This time around, though, they have reached matchday six with the chance to progress, and they will be desperate to take that however difficult the task tonight.

While a win at Old Trafford could be a daunting task for the visitors tonight, they certainly shouldn't be underestimated either as their record so far in this season's competition hase been impressive. Indeed, CSKA have won nine of their 11 Champions League games this season - including qualifiers - having failed to win any of their previous 10 games in this competition before that.

The victory at Benfica on matchday one was their first in the Champions League group stages since November 2014 - although United could perhaps take note of that result as CSKA came to Manchester and won against City.

Considering they had lost six and drawn one of their seven away matches in this competition prior to this season, it is major improvement from the Russian club, and in all competitions they have only lost once on the road in their last 20 competitive outings - stretching back to the most recent visit to England when Tottenham Hotspur won just over a year ago.

The opposition will, of course, be much stronger tonight, but this is a CSKA team growing in confidence having won five of their last six outings - including four on the bounce - following a spell which saw them pick up only one win in eight before that.

CSKA need the result a lot more than United tonight, which could force them to go and chase the game. The visitors have players who could hurt United, but Mourinho's side should still have enough to come out on top and the pace of Rashford could hurt CSKA if they do go gung-ho. We're going for a home win.

SPORTS MOLE SAYS: Manchester United 3-1 CSKA Moscow

United have scored in all five of those games too, including a four-goal haul in the reverse fixture in September when Lukaku (2), Martial and Mkhitaryan were all on the scoresheet in a 4-1 victory.

Indeed, their 2014 victory over Man City is their only previous away win in England, with three draws and four defeats also included in their eight trips to these shores.

The Red Devils have won two and drawn three of their previous such games, and they have only ever lost once in 12 overall previous games against teams from Russia, with that solitary defeat coming at the hands of Zenit in the 2008 Super Cup on neutral territory.

MAN UTD STARTING XI: Romero; Valencia, Smalling, Lindelof, Shaw; Herrera, Blind, Pogba; Mata, Lukaku, Rashford

CSKA STARTING XI: Akinfeev; Fernandes, V. Berezutskiy, Ignashevich, Vasin; Nababkin, Kuchaev, Golovin; Vitinho, Chalov, Dzagoev

Fernandes races on to a through-ball behind the defence on the right flank and plays a low ball into the box which goes all the way through to Vitinho. The shot is not the best, but it beats Romero before coming off the back of Dzagoev and going in. The controversy comes as Dzagoev was stood in an offside position, although it looked as though the ball was going in anyway, and Blind was off the pitch which may have contributed to the linesman's decision.

United dominated the opening quarter of the game and could comfortably be out of sight at the halfway stage, but as it is they are staring down the barrel of a first home defeat of the season.

The big debate will be whether it should have been flagged for offside or not, with Dzagoev standing a yard behind the final defender who was on the pitch as Vitinho's effort hit him. However, Blind was off the pitch behind the goal, which must have been why the linesman did not raise his flag. There was confusion amongst the players as to exactly what the rule was, though!

Rashford hit the post after only four minutes when he was played through on goal, and he tested the keeper shortly after that with another low strike. Luke Shaw has been the unlikely figure to threaten the most, though, with his marauding runs down the left flank causing all sorts of problems.

It's all very confusing, but it sounds like it should have been ruled out!

Elsewhere, Roma have taken the lead against Qarabag, Paco Alcacer has broken the deadlock for Barcelona against Sporting and Celtic have just conceded the opening goal at home to Anderlecht.

Pogba floats a fine left-footed ball into the box for the Belgian, who holds off the challenge of Vasin to divert the ball past Akinfeev with a smart finish on the stretch.

This time it is Rashford who ends his own goal drought, exchanging passes with Mata before drilling a low strike across goal and into the far corner with his left foot. Mata lifted the ball over the defence and into the box, and from there Rashford did the rest.

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Elsewhere, a second from Tolisso has restored Bayern Munich's two-goal lead over PSG.

Vitinho gave CSKA the lead in controversial fashion right on the stroke of half time - a goal which should have been ruled out for offside against Dzagoev, off whom the final touch came - but United ensured that would only be a footnote rather than the major talking point courtesy of quickfire goals from Lukaku and Rashford shortly after the hour mark.

Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for tonight's Champions League clash between Manchester United and CSKA Moscow as the Red Devils confirm their place in the last 16 as Group A winners! I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction too.

From me, though, it is goodbye for now!