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Sir Alex Ferguson is too long in the tooth to start getting anxious in August, but the Manchester United manager has left his players under no illusions about the importance of their game away to Portsmouth this evening.

Defeat for United at Fratton Park, where they have lost three times in the past five visits, would leave the champions five points adrift of Chelsea and Liverpool at the top of the Barclays Premier League after two matches.

Given that United took only two points from their opening three matches last season and still won the title, another poor start may hardly be cause for alarm, but when one considers that their next two league matches are away to Liverpool and Chelsea, the prospect of going into those games with a solitary point may prove a little unnerving, even for Ferguson.

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A 1-1 draw against Newcastle United at Old Trafford on the opening weekend was unexpected and United must hope that their bogey ground and a lengthy absentee list do not conspire against them before they fly out to Monaco for Friday’s European Super Cup final against Zenit St Petersburg.

“Portsmouth is a big one for us,” Ferguson said. “It is never easy at Fratton Park. Teams who go there know they are going to get a battle.

“We hope to get a result there and get that out of the way. It can be a positive step forward given that we know players are coming back. We had a terribly slow start last year and hopefully it won’t be as bad.” Although United will welcome back Carlos Tévez, who missed the Newcastle game because of a family bereavement, Ferguson’s options have, if anything, worsened. Michael Carrick has been ruled out for three weeks after spraining an ankle against Newcastle and Ryan Giggs is a doubt with a hamstring problem.

With Nani completing a two-match suspension, Anderson unlikely to feature after only just returning from the Olympics with Brazil, Park Ji Sung and Owen Hargreaves still working their way back to full fitness and Cristiano Ronaldo and Louis Saha out, Ferguson will again be forced to call upon fringe players such as Darren Fletcher and John O’Shea.

“Early in the season, it’s very difficult to see how things work out,” Ferguson said. “We have all the teams who finished in the top half last year away from home in the first part of the season – Liverpool, Chelsea, Blackburn, Everton, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Tottenham as well as Portsmouth. It is a big challenge. If we do all right in that, maybe in the second half we will motor on a bit.”

Niko Kranjcar, the midfield player, is a doubt for Portsmouth with an ankle problem, but Harry Redknapp is looking for a marked improvement after watching his team lose 4-0 away to Chelsea last weekend. “The only way we’ll have a chance against United is to match their workrate,” the Portsmouth manager said.

Portsmouth (probable; 4-4-2): D James – G Johnson, S Campbell, S Distin, H Hreidarsson – Y Kaboul, L Diarra, P Bouba Diop, J Utaka – J Defoe, P Crouch.

Manchester United (probable; 4-4-2): E van der Sar – W Brown, R Ferdinand, N Vidic, P Evra – D Fletcher, J O’Shea, P Scholes, R Giggs – W Rooney, C Tévez.

Referee: C Foy.

Television: Live on Sky Sports 1 from 7.30pm (kick-off 8pm).