The biggest game this weekend (bar El Clasico) commences on Sunday at 4pm (BST). Manchester United versus Chelsea. Van Gaal versus Mourinho. 1st verses well urm… 6th. The league leaders are in flying form visiting Old Trafford, a massive 10 point gap between the two sides in just 8 games suggest this. Chelsea travel to Old Trafford on the back of a 6-0 midweek thrashing of Maribor in Europe as well as the 2-1 league win over Crystal Palace secured ‘comfortably’. United not in Europe due to their catastrophic season last year, are still finding it hard to perform to the standards of previous United teams under Ferguson and have struggled to say the least. Blind secured a draw in the 88th minute of Monday’s game against West Brom, highlighting their lack of quality.
Chelsea have hit the ground running this season and remain comfortable in 1st and nothing recently has suggested that will change any time soon. Yes it’s too early to talk about staying unbeaten but with a draw against last season’s champions at the Ethiad, comfortable victories against the likes of Arsenal and Palace there’s reason to be optimistic of equalling or bettering the Invincbles of ’04. Chelsea now have striker’s capable of actually scoring instead of the trio of poor striker’s they had last season, they now have Diego Costa, Loic Remy and Didier Drogba. With Costa missing out against Palace and Maribor, Remy has stepped up and performed well, however sustained an injury after his great strike opened the flood gates against Maribor. With Costa still a major doubt according to Mourinho, 36 year old Drogba may be the only striker available on Sunday. The side do seem to perform extremely well no matter what grievances occur on the pitch however as Tuesday’s game against Maribor and last Saturday’s game against Palace had shown with Remy getting injured early on up stepped Didier Drogba to open his scoring account for Chelsea with a penalty, sending the keeper the wrong way, reminiscing the 2012 champions league final. Felipe Luis (widely dubbed a one of the best full backs in Europe last season) also stepped up to replace Willian as Azpilicueta was sent off for a dangerous tackle in the first half. The squad depth Chelsea have is sublime and have a quality replacement for every position on the pitch.
Chelsea beat Manchester United in 2009 to win the Community Shield. (Source: chelseafc.com)
United have come up 6th after 8 games due to their lack of consistency having won 3, drawn 3 and lost twice. This should be worrying for United fans as Chelsea come as their first real test. They’ve played all three of the newly promoted sides and only came away with a win against QPR , a loss in a 5-3 thriller to Leicester having been 3-1 up with 33 minutes left to go, and a goalless draw away to Burnley. Unacceptable from a side that won the Premier league just two seasons ago. They also lost their opening game at home to Swansea in which Van Gaal called for time (three months to be precise) for his methods to be understood by his players. They do seem to be on the up since their loss to Leicester, with Di Maria and his co attackers getting on like a house on fire. United’s attack is phenomenal with the likes of Juan Mata, Radamel Falcao, Robin Van Persie, Wayne Rooney all players with world class abilities to play with Di Maria. However the least said about their defence the better. A very average defence with very little experience, the Chelsea strikers and playmakers must be relishing to unpick them with ease.
Chelsea secured 4 points in two games against United last season conceding just one goal. In this same fixture last season Chelsea started with no recognised forward with Andre Schurrle leading the line on paper, this game finished as a goalless draw and perhaps came to early in the season last season as both sides were sceptical about going in search of the win and risking losing. This is totally different to this season as Chelsea possess the joint top scorer in the league so far with 9 goals, as well as other quality attacking options.
Team news are as follows:
Chelsea: Andre Schurrle has undergone training this week after coming back from a nasty virus preventing him from training. Ramires and Mikel could make a return from injury and start on the bench. Diego Costa remains a doubt due to viral and hamstring problems sustained. Loic Remy is out of the fixture due to the muscle problem sustained from the goal he scored against Maribor and Cesar Azpilicueta is suspended from the game due to the red card he was shown for his rash tackle on Mile Jedinak.
United: Angel Di Maria is expected to feature after suffering a thigh injury. Wayne Rooney is serving the third game of his three game suspension and so can’t play.
Chelsea line up I’m hoping for: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Felipe Luis; Matic, Fabregas; Willian, Oscar, Hazard; Diego Costa.
My prediction for the game is 3-2 Chelsea with goals from Diego Costa, Ivanovic and Hazard with Van persie scoring for United.
Kamal Sultan
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