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Today,Manchester United take on Chelsea in Old Trafford, in the biggest game of the season so far. After losing to the ‘Red Devils’ three times last season (twice in the Champions League and once in the Premier League, with two of the games taking place at Old Trafford), Chelsea will be hoping to take the game to them. The last time both ?sides met, Man United essentially clinched their 19th Premier League title with a 2-1 win at Old Trafford
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Having got off to a flying start, Man United have fired themselves up to the top of the table, having picked up 12 points and scoring 15 goals, including the 8-2 white-wash of ?Arsenal at Old Trafford two weeks ago. United are the favoured and stronger side, with four wins in as many matches, seven world-class forwards to choose from, and summer signings in the form of Young bolstering the already string midfield policed by the likes of Nani.?
Mid-week, though, the ‘Red Devils’ got their UEFA Champions League campaign off to a slow start with a 1-1 away draw to Portuguese side, Benfica.?
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Defender Rio Ferdinand, who missed recent games against Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal with a hamstring injury but played against Bolton Wanderers last weekend, did not make the trip to face Benfica on Wednesday as “a precaution”, according to manager Alex Ferguson, but might come in handy against the ‘Blues’.
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Goalkeeper David De Gea, rested for the Benfica game, will start, while Anders Lindegaard, will sit-out the game. The champions will be without ?Nemanja Vidic, Tom Cleverley, Danny Welbeck ?and one of the twins, Rafael.?
Chelsea on the other hand, have not had it so good. They opened their season account with a goalless draw against Stoke (which was not the perfect start new manager Villas-Boas was looking forward to at Stamford Bridge), but they have sinced bounced back to win their other games.?
They earned a stressful 2-0 victory against Bayern Leverkussen in their champions league opener. ?During the week, defender Branislav Ivanovic had some advice for the ‘Red Devils’.
“United started very well this season, but if you remember, we started last season the same,” the 27-year-old said. “They have improved as a group, but we have our aim, we have our idea and we try to use this on the pitch. It is going to be the hardest game for us and we have to show more than 100 per cent of our power.
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“Last season was a different situation, because we had to win there, and when you play a big game away and you have to win, psychologically, it’s completely different.
“We have to take a good message from these two games and we have to be more motivated from those games which we lost.
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“It is the first big, big test for our team, how we’ve improved, and we’re going there trying to show our best football and to take a good result.”
For Andre Villa-Boas, “Today is a different kind of challenge altogether.
“We face United, perhaps, in their most tremendous moment of motivation, flair and style.?
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“A team that has made its impact at the beginning of the Premier League, different from last year, but I think it provokes in us a good challenge.?
“Motivation will be the key factor in the game, and the capacity of people to transcend themselves and come back from Old Trafford with a win. We will go there to try to win it. It is going to be a very, very good game, early in the season, for the Premier League.”