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#2 United are better prepared
Both Manchester United and Chelsea enjoyed good pre-seasons. In fact, both clubs barely lost games, and that is a good confidence booster going into the season. However, in terms of preparedness, the Red Devils stand as the better side.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team was more intense and played better opposition during pre-season. While Chelsea did play Barcelona and Borussia Monchengladbach, those two were the only formidable opponents they faced.
United on the other hand tested themselves against the likes of Inter Milan, Tottenham Hotspur and AC Milan. Also, the United players got a feel of Solskjaer’s training regime during the tail end of last season, and they only built on that in pre-season.
Frank Lampard finds himself in a new terrain and faces an uphill task of imposing his own style on this Chelsea team. He may be sounding like all is well, but it takes more than just a month of pre-season to get a team playing the way the manager wants.
Solskjaer is much more settled and, at the very least, knows his players better. All these things will play in favour of Man United come Sunday.
