Chelsea Vs Manchester United Preview Dec 19

	Games played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Goal Difference	Points
Manchester United	16	9	7	0	20	34
Arsenal	17	10	2	5	15	32
Manchester City	17	9	5	3	11	32
Chelsea	17	9	4	4	19	31

Following last week’s win against Arsenal, Manchester United have continued their unbeaten run in the Premier League moving to the top of the table 2 points clear of Arsenal and Manchester City with a game in hand.

Sir Alex Ferguson believes this fixture is of massive significance and will very well have a say in the pecking order to winning the title. However, a big blow for him is the probable absence of Paul Scholes in the centre of the park to rally the team against the Blues.

United are coming into the game with a lot of confidence with the 1-0 win over Arsenal, showing a wonderful display of defence by the back four with Arsenal hardly troubling the Dutchman.

Chelsea on the other hand after a tumultuous 2 months of football which saw them drop points here, there and everywhere, are in damage control mode, with Drogba almost (missed a penalty) grabbing all 3 points last weekend at a tough game at White Hart Lane.

The determination on JT’s face post match summed up how eager he is to get the Blues back on track and the game at hand is the best one to prove why they are the Champions. Frank Lampard’s return to full fitness following a hernia surgery is no doubt KEY to unlocking Manchester United, though we will have to wait and see if he can regain his form ASAP.

With a lot of gas and speculation over Ancelotti’s position being questioned time and again by the ‘News’ mongering British media, he has made it clear he is here to stay till 2012.

HEROES| ZEROES

• Wayne Rooney is still in search of a Goal in open play and missing a penalty last week did not help his cause, but he’s been vibrant and positive and will look to clean that slate.
• Didier Drogba’s goal scoring run or rather the lack of it is why Chelsea is now at 4^th position. The lack of quality service from the middle of the park and the malaria did enough to keep him from finding the net. He too gave Wayne company last week with a dismal penalty.
• Vidic and Ferdinand have their hands full to keep a clean sheet and will need a top notch performance like last week.
• Return of Frank might just help Malouda to get back to his best position and provide more opportunities for himself and the front men.
• Nani is in brilliant form and looks the most threatening going forward, expect a show.
• Anderson needs to work on how to ‘kick the ball into the net’ ;-).

Head to Head

The Red Devils have not managed to win in London in the last 9 visits.

SQUADS and PREDICTION

Manchester United:

4-3-3 | 4-5-1 Van der Sar, Evra, Vidic, Rio, Rafael, Park, Anderson, Carrick, Fletcher, Nani, Rooney

I go with the same squad as last week, just wonder whether SAF will figure Berbatov.

Chelsea:

4-1-4-1 | 4-1-2-1-2 Cech, Cole, Terry, Ivanovic, Bosingwa, Mikel, Essien, Lampard, Malouda, Anelka, Drogba

A must win game for Chelsea to  catch up on lost ground, I go for a 1-1 draw.

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