Its the big match of the weekend in the Premier League. Henry Kibirige casts his eye over the chances of his team, Henry is editor of Manchester United fan site www.manunitedview.co.uk
Chelsea to win 2-0 says United fan Henry
Last season the game finished 1-1, but United do not look as strong, here are last season’s match stats;
As Liverpool continue to threaten Man City for the Best Comedy Value award, the only two title contenders will go head to head at Stamford Bridge, in a match which will go a long way in showing whether Chelsea really are as good as the media makes out, and also whether United still have it in them to win the league for the fourth time in a row. Ancellotti hasn’t tinkered with his squad too much, however unlike Avram Grant, the Italian has managed to mould Anelka and Drogba into a title threatening partnership which is full of pace, power, strength and most importantly goals. There’s also a midfield behind the front two who can create, as well as chip in with a few goals if needed. This explains the fact that Chelsea have produced nine goals in the last two games.
Defensively they haven’t been as convincing. Dreadful displays at Wigan and Villa Park for example, have shown that there isn’t the defensive solidarity that Grant and Mourinho had with pretty much the same defenders. Terry’s reliance on Carvalho is highlighted more and more each game, as well as his frightening lack of pace. As well as this, Boswinga hasn’t really impressed defensively in my opinion. He may be fast and good at getting forward, but his defending hasn’t really explained to me why some people are rating him so highly.
Manchester United have their own defensive problems which seem to be more serious than first thought. Rio Ferdinand is likely to be out for around six weeks with a back injury which surely gives Johnny Evans the chance to show whether he’s a long term replacement. John O’Shea or Brown are likely to be partnering Vidic for most of the time, however it would be interesting to see if Evans can continue the good form he showed last season when he had a run in the first team. Manchester United’s increasing debt means that buying a world class defender is very unlikely to happen to bringing in a youth player is ideal.
Good news came from the CSKA Moscow match even though it wasn’t one of United’s better performances. It showed that Valencia is getting more and more confident with every game, and is now starting to look like the dangerous winger we saw at Wigan. When he arrived he showed little glimpses of a very good winger, however at times when he should have took the player on, or put the cross in, he would chose the safer option of playing it back which slowed down the attacking move. His first goal against Bolton seems to have given him the confidence that he’s needed. Such was his threat on Tuesday night, CSKA decided to have two players marking him to keep him at bay. Hopefully he will go on to prove that he’s worth all of the £18m spent on him.
For any chance of a win on Sunday United will have to adopt a 4-3-3 formation which isn’t the most popular. If a 4-4-2 is played, then it will mean that Ballack, Lampard and Essien will dominate in the middle against two United central midfielders. Whilst playing a 4-5-1 will leave Rooney/Berbatov isolated and Carvalho will have a much easier afternoon. The three United players in the middle should be Carrick, Fletcher and Anderson just infront of them. It’s a midfield of energy, creativity and also is likely to do a decent defensive job.
United will have to put on a stunning display to get a win on Sunday, and unfortunately I don’t think this will happen as Chelsea look too strong, especially in the middle.
Van Der Sar
O’Shea Brown Vidic Evra
Carrick Fletcher
Anderson
Valencia Rooney Giggs
Chelsea 2-0 United, Anelka first scorer.
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