Manchester United vs Chelsea FC
Chelsea may have the upper hand as United lost their most influential player this midweek. Sir Alex was handed a serious setback when Wayne Rooney picked up an ankle sprain against Bayern Munich in Tuesday’s Champions League match. Things are looking even more ominous for the Red Devils as Chelsea have crushed their opposition by 6 and 5 goals respectively in the last 2 league games. Ancelotti will have a minor injury crisis as Ivanovic, Carvalho, Bosingwa and Ashley Cole are all out of contention.
With 35 goals this season and only 6 league games left to play, Wayne Rooney looked to be Manchester United’s ticket to yet another Premiership title. This Tuesday’s injury at the Allianz Arena may have made a serious impact on United’s title chances. The young Englishman is expected to be out from 2-4 weeks and will definitely miss this important match with contenders Chelsea. Sir Alex should field the same squad he played last weekend against Bolton, which resulted in an impressive 4-0 victory. While Rooney was being rested for the Champions League fixture, Dimitar Berbetov was given an opportunity to shine with 2 goals before the final whistle. The Bulgarian striker will again try to fill in the (rather large) gap left by Rooney for Saturday’s match with Chelsea.
Match details:
Manchester United vs Chelsea FC
Saturday 3 April, 2010 – 1:45 PM (CET)
33rd match day
Old Trafford – Greater Manchester
Possible starting XIs:
>> Manchester United: Van der Sar, Neville, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Scholes, Fletcher, Valencia, Giggs, Nani, Berbetov.
>> Chelsea FC: Cech, Zhirkov, Terry, Alex, Ferreira, Lampard, Mikel, Malouda, Cole, Drogba, Anelka.
Current table:
| # | Team | Games | V | D | L | Goals | Diff. | Points |
| 1 | Manchester United | 32 | 23 | 3 | 6 | 76-25 | 51 | 72 |
| 2 | Chelsea FC | 32 | 22 | 5 | 5 | 82-29 | 53 | 71 |
Head-to-Head in Premier League:
| Date | Match | Result |
| 08.11.2009 | Chelsea – Manchester United | 1:0 |
| 11.01.2009 | Manchester United – Chelsea | 3:0 |
| 21.09.2008 | Chelsea – Manchester United | 1:1 |
| 26.04.2008 | Chelsea – Manchester United | 2:1 |
| 23.09.2007 | Manchester United – Chelsea | 2:0 |
| 09.05.2007 | Chelsea – Manchester United | 0:0 |
| 26.11.2006 | Manchester United – Chelsea | 1:1 |
Summary:
Manchester United will come into this match a bit down in spirits as they have lost their best player and fell 2-1 against Bayern Munich. Ever since Chelsea made their exit from the Champions League, they have sent a clear message that they are out for this year’s Premiership title. 5 goals against Portsmouth and 7 against Aston Villa will bolster the players’ confidence into an incredible performance at Old Trafford.
Prediction: Chelsea will win.