After Everton's water pipes burst, a flood of relegation worries erupted for Birmingham. The Boxing Day abandonment ensured McLeish's men dropped to 17th place in the table - with two games in hand.
Not many teams fighting the drop can boast of a recent victory against the Premier League winners, however. The belief from the 1-0 result against Chelsea more than a month ago could inspire them against the champions elect.
An unlikely three points could boost the Blues towards mid-table safety. An expected set-back and upturn in fortune for Fulham could send them into the bottom three for New Year.
Month To Remember For On-Song United
December is traditionally a time of joy as the festive season kicks in but United have taken this to a new level.
A 1-0 victory against Arsenal and 2-0 swatting aside of Sunderland has seen Ferguson's squad begin to kick into gear after a stuttering start to the season. The Scot will be hopeful of ending the month on a positive note against his Aberdeen protege.
United haven't been beaten at St Andrew's since a 5-1 mauling in 1978. A repeat of such a scoreline would send shockwaves through both ends of the division.
TEAM NEWS
Birmingham City
Alex McLeish's men are fresh after their Boxing Day match at Everton was called off. The Scot is still set to be without playmaker Alexander Hleb (hamstring) and James McFadden (knee).
Hleb has returned to training but the game is expected to come too soon for him to feature.
Possible starting XI: Foster; Carr, Johnson, Dann, Ridgewell; Larsson, Bowyer, Ferguson, Gardner, Fahey; Jerome.
Manchester United
Boss Sir Alex Ferguson could unleash striker Michael Owen from the substitute's bench after his return to the fold from injury. It is not yet known whether Anderson's petulant reaction from his substitution during the 2-0 win against Sunderland will be punished.
Owen Hargreaves (hamstring), John O'Shea (calf), Paul Scholes (groin) and Antonio Valencia (knee) are all absent. With the busy festive fixture list to juggle, a number of changes could be made.
Possible starting XI: Van der Sar; Rafael, Vidic, Smalling, Fabio; Nani, Anderson, Fletcher, Giggs; Rooney, Berbatov.
Prediction
Even though Birmingham's players are rested, they seem ill-prepared to stop their table topping visitors.
Birmingham 0-2 Man Utd. 
