Manchester United take on Braga on Tuesday evening in the Champions League with thoughts of a style revolution swirling around Sir Alex Ferguson's head. United have maximum points as they entertain the club that finished third last season in the Portuguese Primeira Liga and Ferguson is considering whether to utilise a new-found diamond formation. He said: "If it turns out as a consistent team selection from me, playing a diamond, it is revolutionary because we're going against our history."

The tradition here is United's harnessing of flying wingers to drive the attack-philosophy that Ferguson believes runs through the club's DNA. Three times the manager has sent United out in a diamond this campaign and on each occasion it has reaped dividends: against Newcastle United in the Capital One Cup and Premier League, with wins of 2-1 and 3-0 respectively, and in the previous Champions League group match, the 2-1 victory at Cluj, the Romanian champions.

For Ferguson, who will rest Patrice Evra and Rio Ferdinand for Braga's visit, the option of the diamond, in which Wayne Rooney has been operating at the front tip, adds the potency of the unknown to his armoury. "I think the level of the game in England and Europe is such a high level now that making yourself unpredictable is going to be a strength," he said.

"Teams will have to think if we are going to play two wide players or the diamond because we have players capable of doing both things. Players like Shinji Kagawa and Tom Cleverley can play very well in the type of matches the diamond offers. And of course in Nani, Ashley Young, Antonio Valencia, I've got really good wide players also. It is difficult – we have had some success playing with the diamond. The history of the club is always to play with wide players, particularly at Old Trafford, so I have a decision to make."

In the close season Ferguson added Robin van Persie, who with Rooney can switch between the lone striker position and the No10 role, and Kagawa, who is also flexible in his ability to move across the line. Of the Japanese Ferguson said: "The initial reason for taking him was his ability to play behind the strikers. In the last couple of games he has played middle to right – not a problem for him because he still has the ability to create."

Young should feature against Braga after his return from a month-long lay-off because of a knee injury. "He will be involved and I have Nani, Valencia, Ryan Giggs, plenty of wide players. [And] plenty of central midfielders. I have an issue in terms of picking the team and even the substitutes," Ferguson said.

With last season's pre-Christmas exit from the competition still an unwanted memory, Ferguson rested personnel on Saturday for the 4-2 win over Stoke City. "We've kept players back who have been playing well – Cleverley, Kagawa – so I wouldn't call that underestimating Braga," he said. "Braga are better away from home, [they] showed that beating Galatasaray [2-0, in their previous European game]. It's not easy going to Turkey. In the modern European game counter-attack is the issue, so tomorrow hopefully we can deal with that."

Evra's absence should mean the third start of Alexander Büttner's United career, though who Ferguson selects at centre-back instead of Ferdinand is less clear. The manager has played Michael Carrick there but, given his stated reason for resting the senior players Evra and Ferdinand – to allow them to focus on Sunday's trip to Chelsea – he may similarly choose not to select the midfielder. He was giving nothing away. "I will come to that [on match-day]", he said, with injuries to Nemanja Vidic, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling suggesting Scott Wootton could make a full Champions League debut.

Of Smalling, Ferguson added: "He trained this morning with Warren Joyce [the reserve team manager]. He has trained there a couple of days now but it is non-contact at the moment. The encouraging thing is he is definitely on the way back. I expect Phil Jones to start next Monday on the football side and the two of them are two or three weeks away."

Clearer are Ferguson's current thoughts on Rafael da Silva, the first-choice right-back. "He was our best player Saturday. He is maturing, learning all the time," Ferguson said. "He is blessed with great enthusiasm, skill, speed. Maturity brings that together and bit by bit he has done that over the last two years. He was quite impulsive, committing himself, but he has been fantastic."