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Reds manhandled out of League Cup

Coventry City manager Iain Dowie celebrates victory against Manchester United in their English League Cup third round soccer match at Old Trafford in Manchester, England, on Wednesday. Coventry City won 2-0. PHOTO: AP

Manchester United are expected to revert back to their experienced players for their Premier League game at Birmingham today after an embarrassing exit from the League Cup.

The Red Devils lost to League Championship side Coventry 2-0 on Wednesday, in their first match in this season's second-tier cup competition.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson fielded an entirely different starting 11 to that which beat Chelsea 2-0 in the Premier League last Sunday.

Unlike Arsenal's youngsters, who beat Newcastle 2-0 in their League Cup match on Tuesday, Man United's second-string did not impress.

"I was absolutely flabbergasted by that performance," Ferguson said. "I did not expect that at all. I am not interested in giving reasons or mitigating circumstances. It was just a very bad performance."

United were without Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, who are set to return today.

Birmingham also made 11 changes to its starting lineup in its League Cup game, and it also backfired with a 3-0 loss to Blackburn.

"I hope the people I left out ... are fresh and ready for Manchester," said Birmingham manager Steve Bruce, who played for Manchester United himself from 1987 to 1996.

Man United are second in the Premier League standings with 14 points after seven games. Arsenal lead with 16 points and have played a game less. The Gunners travel to West Ham today.

Manchester City are third with 13 points, followed by Liverpool with 12 and Newcastle and Chelsea with 11 each.

City are at Newcastle, Chelsea host Fulham and Liverpool play at Wigan.

Also on Saturday, it's: Derby v Bolton; Portsmouth v Reading and Sunderland v Blackburn. On Sunday, Everton host Middlesbrough.
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