Pre-Match:
Manchester United Vs Chelsea






VS

Old Trafford

Manchester

On Sunday evening, defending champions Manchester United entertain title contenders Chelsea, in the clash of the titans. With the 8-2 drubbing of Arsenal , Sir Alex Ferguson's side have not lost at Old Trafford since Chelsea prevailed there 17 (532 days to be exact)  months ago and, of the all premier clubs to have visited the Theatre of Dreams, only West Bromwich Albion have left with a point. In the previous season, United inflicted a 3-0 pasting on a formidable title rivals Chelsea team. Although both the teams have unbeaten start to the season, their performance have been contrasting. Chelsea were recently held at the Britannica stadium owing to gritty performance of a Stoke side while United overcame injury worry of Cleverly in the early part of fixture, putting yet another goals galore presentation, thrashing Trotters 5-0 at the Reebok Stadium. This would be first real test for the high-flying champions.

With the additions of Juan Mata and Raul Meireles, they have added creativity to their midfield but they still rely of their full-backs to run down the channels. This has improved the services for their strikers but the players are oriented to play more in center of the park, drifting inwards most of time, which makes their attack one dimensional. Inclusion of Sturridge could rectify the problem to some extent. The transformation will take more games, and this will be a stern test for Andre Vilas Boas. As an ardent studier of his opponent, AVB will notice the contrast of this with the Stoke game and will more determine to come with an effective plan.

United, on the other hand, have approached the games with their traditional 4-4-2 formation with addition of more conventional winger; depending on the skill of their players to provide more flair. Apart from the game at opening round of the season, they have played the game at very high tempo, ripping apart their opponents with ease. That could change and hamper United’s game with forced switch of Tom Cleverly in central midfield. Revitalised Rooney seems to be enjoying his time at the club and being the architecture of United’s attack force.

The only casualty for Chelsea would be Didier Drogba, who is out with concussion apart from the longer absentee Michael Essien. United would welcome Darren Fletcher who missed the start of the campaign with mysterious viral disease. Good news should be that Welbeck is back in the training but will the miss the game. Cleverly is out at least two months after horrendous tackle from Bolton captain, Kevin Davies.

Sir Alex Ferguson on Chelsea: “The new coach has started very well. It’s a hard challenge at his age but he's acquitted himself very well and his team have responded, which is what you hope for as a new manager at a club. It will be a fantastic game; the games with Chelsea over the last seven years have been very close affairs. There's usually only one goal in it and I think it will be tight again on Sunday. They're a team with great experience and they'll pose a challenge to us. Chelsea will be there at the end of the season. There's no doubt about that”

Probable XI:

Manchester United: De Gea, Smalling, Jones, Evans, Evra, Nani, Anderson, Fletcher, Nani, Rooney, Hernandez.

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole, Lampard, Meireles, Ramires, Mata , Sturridge, Torres