Leeds United chairman Ken Bates believes Manchester United's strength in depth is such that they could still challenge for the Premier League title if they were to field their second-string side every week.
Bates welcomes Sir Alex Ferguson's side to Elland Road on Tuesday night as the old rivals do battle in the Carling Cup third round.
Ferguson will take a youthful-looking squad up to West Yorkshire, with the Scot already confirming that highly-rated teenage midfielder Paul Pogba will play some part, while fellow 2011 FA Youth Cup-winners Will Keane, Michael Keane and Tom Thorpe may also find themselves involved.
But United's Carling Cup line-up can also be expected to contain Michael Owen, Dimitar Berbatov, Ryan Giggs, Michael Carrick and Park Ji-Sung, players who have failed to hold down a regular place so far this season.
The inclusion of such established stars demonstrates the depth of the Premier League champions' squad and Bates, who was used to facing United regularly when he was chairman of Chelsea, thinks United's 'reserve team' would possess enough quality to sustain a serious title charge of their own.
"Manchester United have scored 16 goals in their last three games, so Fergie must be terrified at the mere thought of coming here to Leeds!" Bates joked.
"Of course we know that Fergie is going to mix and match his side but it doesn't matter if they bring their reserve team because if they played their entire reserve team in the Premier League they would still finish runners up."
Bates is expecting a sell-out crowd at Elland Road, though Leeds have to put up with a reduced capacity because of an £8 million development project.
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