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Monday night will see the first ‘Blockbuster’ clash of the season as reigning champions Manchester United face off against pretenders to the throne Chelsea at Old Trafford.
While neither club may have had the happiest of pre-seasons, Chelsea have been more resourceful in the transfer market. While United momentarily climbed atop that favourite perch of theirs, i.e., the top of the Premier league table after thrashing Swansea City 4-1 at the Liberty Stadium last weekend, Chelsea overcame Aston Villa 2-1 at Stamford Bridge in a midweek clash to go top of the table.
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The last time United and Chelsea faced off in the Premier League, Chelsea edged out ahead 1-0.
However, United managed to win at Stamford Bridge prior to that. United were excellent at home last season, racking up 16 wins from 19 matches. Chelsea were decent on the road with ten wins and five losses. The previous five clashes between these two teams has seen both teams rack up two wins each with one match drawn, making Monday’s game virtually impossible to call. Chelsea’s visit begins a four-game testing period for the champions with games against Liverpool and City in the immediate offing.
Despite United failing to lure players to Old Trafford this summer, the red half of Manchester still have the Premier League’s most lethal finisher as Van Persie’s twin strikes against Swansea served yet another reminder of which striker has now replaced Rooney as the go-to hitman in the United camp, regardless of who regularly hogs the newspaper headlines.
Van Persie was also instrumental in United grabbing their first piece of silverware this season as they won the Community Shield at Wembley.
Chelsea has been re-invigorated by the return of the ‘Special One’ to London and are now desperate to relive Jose Mourinho’s first coming by winning the league.
Chelsea is now a smaller, more fluid machine than the one of 2004-06, so stitching up the creative prowess of Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar to a prolific poacher upfront is top priority. Iy is in this position that Mourinho faces a problem of plenty having played Fernando Torres in his opening game, Demba Ba against Aston Villa and with Romelu Lukaku, back from his excellent loan spell at West Brom last season, waiting in the wings.
Then there is also the small matter of Wayne Rooney. The new Chelsea gaffer is still locked in a prolonged transfer-battle with the red devils for Rooney, but has insisted he will wait until after Monday’s match before making a third bid for the England striker as United maintain that Rooney is not for sale.
Last heard, there is also talk of swapping Mata for Rooney. Also, unconfirmed reports suggest Chelsea have all but completed a £32 million signing of Anzhi Makhachala star Willian from under Tottenham’s noses.
Head to Head:
England – Premier League ?(EPL)? May 5, 2013 Man Utd. 0 – Chelsea FC 1
England – FA Cup ?(FA) Apr 1, 2013 Chelsea FC 1 – Man Utd. 0
England – FA Cup ?(FA) Mar 10, 2013 Man Utd. 2 – Chelsea FC 2
England – Capital One Cup(League Cup) ?? Oct 31, 2012 Chelsea FC 5 – Man Utd. 4
England – Premier League ?(EPL)? Oct 28, 2012 Chelsea FC 2 – Man Utd 3.
Form Guide:
| Man Utd.: W W L D W | |||
| Aug 17, 2013 | Swansea 1 - Man Utd. 4 | EPL | |
| Aug 11, 2013 | Wigan Athletic 2 - Man Utd. 0 | Community Shield | |
| Aug 9, 2013 | Man Utd. 1 - Sevilla 3 | Friendly | |
| Aug 6, 2013 | AIK Solna 1 - Man Utd. 1 | Friendly | |
| Jul 29, 2013 | Kitchee SC 2 - Man Utd. 5 | Friendly | |
| Chelsea FC: W W W L W | |||
| Aug 21, 2013 | Chelsea FC 2 - Aston Villa 1 | EPL | |
| Aug 18, 2013 | Chelsea FC 2 - Hull 0 | EPL | |
| Aug 11, 2013 | Chelsea FC 2 - Roma 1 | Friendly | |
| Aug 8, 2013 | Real Madrid CF 3 - Chelsea FC 1 | International Champions Cup | |
| Aug 4, 2013 | AC Milan 0 - Chelsea FC 2 | International Champions Cup | |
Expected Starting Line ups:
For Chelsea, David Luiz is still a doubt with a hamstring problem, whereas up front, Mourinho has started with Fernando Torres and Demba Ba as the lone striker against Hull and Villa respectively.
Romelu Lukaku is expected to lead the line at Old Trafford after coming on from the subs bench in each of the last two. While it was De Bruyne who warmed the bench against Aston Villa on Wednesday, it was he who shone brightest against Hull City, and may be expected to start alongside Mata and Hazard.
The Blues are likely to line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, as Mata, Hazard and De Bruyne are likely to play behind a lone striker.
Chelsea: P. Cech;B. Ivanovic, G. Cahill, J. Terry, A. Cole; Ramires, F. Lampard; De Bruyne, J.Mata, E. Hazard; R. Lukaku
After a convincing performance against the Swans on opening day where he lay on two goals after starting from the bench, Rooney could force his way back into the line-up even though Moyes would be hard-pressed to tinker with the combo of Welbeck and Van Persie upfront after they scored a brace apiece last weekend.
Ryan Giggs could, however, make way for Rooney in the wings. Ferdinand and Vidic select themselves, while Phil Jones could be given a holding role to negate the deep-playing Mata.
Manchester United: De Gea; Jones, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Valencia, Carrick,Cleverley, Rooney; Welbeck; van Persie.
Predicted Score-line:
Manchester United 2-2 Chelsea
This is a game too tight to call this early in the season. It would be infinitely tough for United’s midfield to stifle the creative dynamism of the Chelsea triumvirate out of Mata, Hazard, Oscar and De Bruyne spearheaded by Torres or Lukaku but with Welbeck, Valencia and Rooney in good shape, and one of the world’s most lethal strikers in Van Persie, United are well and truly capable of holding their own on home turf.
This much is sure, whoever wins this will be sending out a strong warning to the rest of England.
