Pre-match briefing: Manchester United v Chelsea - part one TALKING POINTS Undefeated Chelsea arrive at Old Trafford as Barclays Premier League leaders and top scorers and, after the record-breaking midweek win, are handily placed to progress in the Champions League. Perhaps the only benefit to Manchester United of failing to qualify for any UEFA competition this season is they have had a free week to prepare for this classic fixture. In fact throughout October Man United will have played just three games (Chelsea will play five). Two seasons ago this month under Sir Alex Ferguson, the figure was six matches in three competitions, including two meetings with us. The Blues are six points better off this season than last in equivalent games played, whereas Louis van Gaal’s side have accrued seven points fewer than the number managed under David Moyes. United’s position maybe looks more flattering because Arsenal and Everton are also five points worse off than the last campaign, and Liverpool three. Chelsea are seeking a seventh successive victory in all competitions this weekend and the Blues are undefeated in the last 18 games played on a Sunday, winning 15 and drawing three. Sunday has not been quite so Super for the Red Devils recently. They have won five of their last 18 Premier League fixtures that day, drawing seven and losing six. Key Stat A Chelsea victory at Old Trafford would be our all-time 600th on the road in the league. Five points from the first five games in this campaign made it United’s worst start to any Premier League season. Van Gaal’s points return from the three matches since means he now has one point more than Moyes did after eight games. From this weekend the challenges ratchet up, with three of the Mancunians’ next four games against Champions League clubs; after our visit the Red Devils’ diary shows Man City away, then Crystal Palace at home before a trip to Arsenal. However, if anything can rouse a United side, no matter how out of sorts, it is the prospect of playing the Blues of London and Manchester in consecutive weeks – two huge matches. Responding to adversity is part of the Old Trafford spirit, although half the team that drew at West Brom on Monday night were new recruits or rookies. The two men in charge this Sunday know each other well. Jose Mourinho was on Van Gaal’s coaching staff in 1993 at Barcelona, where he handled training, analysed opponents and took control during some games for the Netherlander. Much later the two were adversaries across the technical area in the 2010 Champions League final. Mourinho’s Internazionale prevailed 2-0 over Van Gaal’s Bayern, with the free role given to Wesley Sneijder behind Diego Milito proving decisive and creating the latter’s crucial opener towards the end of the first half. Strikers will again be at the forefront in the build-up to this game and Chelsea’s concerns in that area are widely reported. Last season the Blues were the first league visitors to Old Trafford and Mourinho pulled a surprise by selecting Andre Schurrle ahead of Romelu Lukaku and Fernando Torres. The German played as a centre-forward and not a ‘false no.9’ as the media like to suggest. At the end of Chelsea’s biggest ever Champions League win, against Maribor on Tuesday, there were three teenagers in royal blue on the pitch. Nineteen-year-olds Kurt Zouma and Nathan Ake and Dominic Solanke, 17, all made their debut in the competition and looked ready for it. Smooth as silk Ake recorded an assist for Eden Hazard with a wonderful through ball. Mourinho enthused afterwards, with only a whiff of the Godfather, that the Dutch youngster is ‘almost a “made” player.’ Reading-born striker Solanke, meanwhile, has become the club’s youngest ever Champions League participant. At the other end of the spectrum Didier Drogba’s penalty – an irresistible flashback to Munich 2012 – meant the Ivorian has scored in 12 consecutive Champions League seasons and is now our oldest scorer at this level. John Terry’s 100-yard dash was rewarded with his first non- headed goal since October 2011. The team’s efficiency was telling: 10 shots on target among 17 attempts produced six goals. In contrast Schalke’s 23 and Sporting’s 27 efforts against the Slovenians produced one goal apiece. A night of positives tempered by injury to Remy, who had alerted the bench to a problem ahead of the opening goal he lashed in. Drogba was already warming up before the Frenchman succumbed. The seven-goal game in Gelsenkirchen went the way of hosts Schalke. The same outcome in the second of the head-to-head games would see Chelsea through to the knockout phase with two to play. Yet again the scheduling of fixtures offers Man City an opportunity to close the gap at the top to two points. Although the Hammers are in the top four for current form they have not beaten City since March 2009. The last four meetings between the Saints and the Potters have ended in score draws.
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 10:01:06 +0000
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