Manchester United heads to London this weekend seeking to overturn a decade-long winless streak at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League. Although Sir Alex Ferguson’s men comfortably beat the Londoners in the Champions League last season, United hasn’t emerged victorious over Chelsea on the road, domestically, since 2001. With Manchester City moving three points ahead in the Premier League title race on Saturday night, Ferguson is desperate to turn the series of poor results around.
The Scot will have no better chance, with Ferguson welcoming back a quartet of injured stars into the United squad. While Wayne Rooney makes his expected comeback, wingers Nani and Ashley Young provide welcome, if surprising, additions to the United party travelling south.
Not before time, supporters might add, with the Reds facing a tough run of games before the spring. United’s visit to Chelsea is followed by games with Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and the double-header against Ajax in the coming weeks.
“We’ve done very well away from home this season and we need to be good from now on,” Ferguson told Inside United.
“We’ve got some really important away games in the run-in – Chelsea, Tottenham and Man City. They’re going to be crucial games. Games at Chelsea in the last few years have been tough and we’ve had terrible luck there which has caused us disappointing results. The players know what they need to do. They know their responsibilities and the standard and expectation at the club, and they have to carry those things with them when they go into games.”
Injuries have provided a consistent backdrop to the season, with up to 11 stars sat out of matches in recent weeks. Indeed, long-term casualties Darren Fletcher and Nemanja Vidić will not play again this season, but Ferguson is close to bringing midfielder Tom Cleverley back into the fold.
“We’re a bit better in terms of injuries,” Ferguson confirmed on Friday.
“We hope Wayne Rooney, Nani, Tom Cleverley and Ashley Young will all be in the squad. It’s more likely Tom will play against Chelsea Reserves on Monday, but he’ll travel. Rooney and Nani have trained for the last two days.
“When Ashley got his injury at Fulham it was just at a point when his game was starting to shade a little bit because his early form was fantastic and we were really pleased with him. But there was just a couple of games before his injury when it looked as if we were ready to give him a break anyway. It was an enforced one and he is really fresh now. His training performances for the last two weeks have been really good.
“It is good to have players back because we have, in fairness to the players who have been carrying the burden of limited resources, done fantastically well. The only pressure when you get your full squad is on me picking the team now. That is the biggest pressure when you get them all back, who do you play and who do you leave out? It is not going to be easy.”
Much criticised goalkeeper David de Gea is likely to return between the posts after overcoming a heavy cold. Dane Anders Lindegaard is set to miss six weeks after turning his ankle in training, meaning an extended run in the side for young Spaniard de Gea. And Ferguson this week hit back at critics of the 21-year-old stopper, who was singled-out by some pundits for his part in Liverpool’s opening goal last weekend.
“When you make a mistake at United, it is highlighted and can be exaggerated a little bit,” said Ferguson.
“They are mistakes and he wants to address it himself. He will do so through maturity and the understanding of the English game. That is not easy. It is harder when you are replacing Edwin van der Sar and Peter Schmeichel. They are probably two of the greatest goalkeepers in European football over the last 40 years. I found it difficult to replace them. That’s why we went for a young replacement, who would develop and mature into the position because the potential is there.”
For the second time in a week United’s game will be played amid the backdrop of racism. United, and especially Patrice Evra, faced a partizan Anfield crowd in the FA Cup last weekend following Luis Suárez’ racial abuse of the United defender. Meanwhile, at Stamford Bridge, much of the pre-match talk has centered on John Terry, the Chelsea captain now stripped of a similar honour with England. Terry will face a July court date after being accused of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.
However, with Terry still on the sidelines through injury, Anton’s brother Rio will not have to face the dubious prospect of shaking Terry’s hand pre-match – a diplomatic incident few bar those in the fourth estate would enjoy. Terry’s absence almost certainly means a début for England defender Gary Cahill, signed from Bolton Wanderers for £7 million during the winter transfer window.
Left-back Ashley Cole also misses out after being dismissed against Swansea in midweek, while Didier Drogba is still away at the Africa Cup of Nations. Manager Jose Villas-Boas will choose between Frank Lampard and the returning Michael Essien in midfield.
Despite the high-profile absentees Chelsea has history on side for this particular fixture. The Londoners are unbeaten in the last nine home league games against United, since a 3-0 defeat nearly ten years ago. Although Ferguson’s side has rarely enjoyed the rub of the green in that time, the Scot’s side has scored only three times in the past eight matches at Stamford Bridge.
United did, of course, emerge victorious in last season’s Champions League quarter-final, with Rooney scoring the only goal of the match.
However, Ferguson’s side boasts the best away record of any top-flight side – a remarkable turnaround from last season’s tortuous form on the road. And in Antonio Valencia Ferguson will also call on the league’s most in-form player. The Ecuadorian winger has provided nine assists in as many games.
Yet, it will still take a significant improvement in United’s form to close the gap on City this weekend. Following last weekend’s FA Cup loss to Liverpool, United beat Stoke City in midweek. That may have been a routine victory on paper, but the 2-0 win came after the Reds’ managed just two strikes on target – both penalties.
Match details
Chelsea verus Manchester United, Premier League, Stamford Bridge, 5 February 2012, 4pm.
Potential Line-ups
Chelsea: (4-3-3): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Bosingwa; Romeu, Meireles, Lampard; Mata, Torres, Sturridge. Subs from: Turnbull, Essien, Malouda, Ferreira, Piazon, Lukaku.
United (4-4-1-1): de Gea; Smalling, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra; Valencia, Scholes, Carrick, Nani; Rooney, Welbeck. Subs from: Amos, Kuszazck, Rafael, Jones, Fryers, Cole, Giggs, Park, Pogba, Hernández, Berbatov.
Performance Stats
- Chelsea could only take a point away from the side’s last Premier League game against Swansea City. Jose Bosingwa’s shot was going off target before Joe Allen deflected it in for Chelsea to equalise;
- Juan Mata covered the most ground for Chelsea in that game with 6.58 miles
- Bosingwa has won 72 per cent of tackles attempted this season, has made 44 interceptions, and delivered 47 crosses, while making three assists;
- Chelsea striker Fernando Torres may be struggling in front of goal, but his work rate is paying dividends for the team. The striker has attempted 38 tackles so far this season, the seventh highest in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index;
- United scored two penalties to beat Stoke 2-0 on Tuesday night, with Michael Carrick coveringt he most ground – 6.65 miles – for the Reds in the game;
- Javier Hernández and Dimitar Berbatov each scored their seventh goals of the season from the spot after fouls on Ji Sung Park and Valencia;
- Berbatov’s goals have come from 14 attempts at goal, while Hernandez’ have come from 27 attempts;
- Park covered 6.36 miles in the game, behind only top runner Michael Carrick. Park has two goals and three assists to his name this season, and has also completed a pass in his opponent’s half every three minutes 40 seconds.
Form
Chelsea: WWWDWD
United: LWWWLW
Officials
Referee: Howard Webb (Rotherham)
Assistants: D Cann, M McDonough
Fourth Official: P Dowd
You really think Scholes will start given he played 90 mins against Stoke? More likely Giggs to play alongside Carrick in my opinion.
“With Manchester City moving six points ahead in the Premier League title race on Saturday night, Ferguson is desperate to turn the series of poor results around.”
It’s only 3 points Ed…
Ummmm, maybe the EPL are so scared of Manchester United getting their hands on number 20 they are awarding 6 points for a win by any of their, Manchester United, opposition OR perhaps the Shiek is ‘giving away shares in his oil cartel’ to the EPL for forgetting how to add up. Of course we know it is a ‘potential differential points tally’ SHOULD Manchester United get tossed by the other Oil Baron’s team; CHEL$KI.
Where did you get the 6 points from?huh
Very poor journalism, how could you spend so much time writing that article and get the most important piece of info wrong….. 3 pts not 6
Dresilved – brings out all the internet trolls the cold weather. If you’re so fucking smart, you start a blog and write 1,400 words without any errors. No?
Big game for de Gea… teams are going to keep targeting him until he learns… and United need him to learn sooner, not later.
Alfonso – very true, although I’m not sure Chelsea will launch it in quite the same way that Liverpool did.
Cleverley lives, yes
If De Gea starts then we’ll do well to get a win
Keep an eye out in the first 5 minutes to see if he’s asking for every decision from the ref
If he is then we’re fucked, and I’ll take a draw
At least they don’t have Drogba…
By the way Ed…
After all we’ve been through… I think you can call me Alf…
Alf – that’s touching. I’m feeling kinda emotional here Alf. I’m not afraid to say there may be a a tear.
By the way – looks like we’ll be ok for the game. Stamford Bridge clear. http://www.camvista.com/sports/football/chelsea01.php3
Although it was last year too…
Why is everyone getting their hopes up about the game going ahead?
A.M.D.G.
Outstanding stuff. I live in Orchard Park, NY, and I’m a regular reader and listen to the podcast. Please keep up the fantastic work. Manchester is Red and so is Western New York State.
Fancy us for another narrow away win in London, Chelsea without Terry and Cole are a much weaker back four. Think Wellbeck & Rooney might just get a few chances. Only thing that’s cost us in the last couple of league games is bad refereeing so I don’t take much notice of the stats. We’re due a bit of luck.
Hopefully we’ll get a game today. Heard the roads aren’t good and one match has been called off already.
Chelsea have confirmed in last few mins that game goes ahead.
Great news! Now let’s go out and get the 3 points!
i reckon this is either going to be an uphill struggle or piss easy this afternoon –
in the old days, we used to get turned over at OT but get a decent result at their place
not having dogbreath, hitler and money bags cole playing today is a bonus but they still have players who can hurt and ladyboy will no doubt play out of his foreskin against us
: De Gea; Rafael, Evans, Ferdinand, Evra; Valencia, Carrick, Giggs, Young; Rooney, Welbeck
Come on United, we need the 3 points.
De gea to save a contentious last minute penalty.
hope not, dont need the heart attack before it.
anyone got a sopcast channel?
Fuck Rio
Rio being booed because his brother might have been racially abused
Headhunters as classy as ever
De Gea punching jesus wept
Penalty all day long!
If we get our acts together here we can whoop these twats!!
How was that not a freekick/pen
Fucking commentators… United fans singing RED ARMY and they credit it to the Nazi Headhunter scum
We’ve gone to sleep. Come on! let’s hit them with a couple!
Come on United score.
Fuck Rooney!
We’re better than them
They’re shit
I know that’s the frustrating thing, we haven’t won in 10 years at Stamford bridge!!
FUCKING HORRIFIC DEFENDING.
EVRA YOU COMPLETE USELESS CUNT
RIO JUST FUCK OFF AS WELL.
evens you twat.
glad to see you still backing the lads as always
well tortured there.. evans knew nothing about it
OG was our best player 2 seasons ago
crap scoreline
The weakest chelsea team in years and we are losing.
Weakest United time in years too!
true.
we will score
our play is better
just need a bit of composure
Why are we trying to walk it in?
I hope we get a penalty today……
so rooney can miss it?
we should be ahead
evans unlucky
de gea again needs to look at his keeping
we have enough quality to score and win
FFS
Well… another quality goal from the Chavs.
So little urgency to get the ball from back to front and so little clue what to do with the ball in the final third. We did more in those minutes after chelsea scored than we did beforehand. So pissed off. I wish we would stop moaning at the ref and get on with it.
Young has been wasteful, valencia insists on cutting inside every time he gets the ball.
chelsea are pretty much there for the taking if we get our heads together and get some decent crosses in from the wings
We’ve been the better side, should have had a penalty and were unlucky with the goal – I do wish some folks would stop bitchin’
We’ll win 2:1
We’re the better team but we’re getting done as usual at the Bridge
Agreed, every bloody year….
Come on you bastards. Come on.
aye
come on united
fuck the renters
Unless we can manage a settled back 4 we’re always going to struggle!
Vida I love you.
Shit
oh fuck off
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Someone has swapped Evra for his afterbirth.
fuck off.
This is the laughable if our decline wasn’t so clear.
now time to show we have balls if we are going to retain the title
evra is just shit, has been for ages
Who’s picking up Mata?
Why do Evra not understand how to be a left back?
We’re getting walked over by the shittest Chelski side in 10 years!
oh go suck uncles cock u fucking twat
I meant 2:3
smashing goal all the same.. terrible defending….
Evra is fucked. Get him off.
fucking joke now
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
RIO is finished.
We are getting raped.
this is getting embarrassing now
sweet pea on
we need miracles not out of form players
shambles.
left hand side of defence is shocking.. rio is finished, evra too, id have fabio or fryers on first now…
Have we performed in a single second half this season?
Didn’t see the game but gotta be happy with a point after being three down. Agree with poster above that there’s some moaning cunts on here, switching tv off halfway through? Disgraceful!
We just need to stay within a couple of points til we play shitty in April, that’ll decide the title, and I reckon we’ll shit it in.
another big game another loss
rio has been past it for a couple of seasons and needs to call it a day
love to know what was said at half time, give up?
Pathetic second half shambles yet again. All that good play in the first half down the toilet like many other games. Lethargic on our left side again. I give up and I’ve switched the TV off with 40 minutes left. What a joke!
come on rooooooooooooooooooooooooooney
It’s times like this that we really miss a Keane/Robson/Ince…
We’ve got no adrenaline pump in our team anymore.
Well we got a goal
That#s probably not a pen
He’s evening it up
only need 2 now.
OK… get another, and then it’s game on.
3… a draw is for shit.
better than nothing.
Great pen
evra should be moved to midfield.. left footed player in that position is what we need. he is shit at defending now
chelsea have beaten us with no leftback yet we have won and he’s the reason they’ve won
come on roooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooney
3-2 need 1 more.
Now we’ve got a game.
It’s on
Chico you tit… the right ball was to Scholes…
fucking hell de gea again
give it to our midfield u twats
The Renties playing for time already… very poor.
That Torres chance… exactly the same as Liverpool’s second goal in the Cup
Goal kick, flick on, chance
Totally shit defending from us
sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeea
3-3 yes, one more?
Ha!!!!!!!!!!
Now let’s get the winner…………….
All that for a point, fuuucking hell
De Gea was clas overall
Some epic saves at the end
Fuck… a winner would have been sweet, but still, the Chavs will feel sick… so that’s nice.
Bullshit defending is undermining our decent performance
Aye… he had the chance to stop some shots… instead of just thrash about at set pieces…
we were clear favourites and could only nick a draw
Almost a top drawer performance. A point is a great result from 3-0 down but yet again we fail to win despite beng the dominant side for the vast majority of the game.
Fuck me we miss Vidic.
point gained when we were dead and buried
shades of spuds away 2003 for a while but cannot be vexed with that result today after the 1st 10 mins of the second half
if only we had a steady defence we would have walked away with the title by now
rio needs to take a bow and retire, evra is making errors of judgement more often and evans still doesn’t look confident under pressure
ffs we are relying on pensioners in the middle and i still can’t understand why the boss won’t play with berba in the middle if he doesnt want him to partner rooney – i mean we have nowt to lose but leaving him on the bench is so pointless
Whilst I applaud the players for coming back from a potentially heavy defeat to snatch a point, I can’t help but feel that we missed a huge opportunity to finally win at Stamford Bridge.
Such a weak Chelsea team…and the way they played in the first half betrayed a lack of confidence. Yet we handed them the initiative with shite defending.
Yes, our defending was shite and cost us 3 goals but what I want to know is why we showed so little purpose in the final 3rd in the 1st half – yet we suddenly woke up when we were 3-0 down.
We had the same problems at Anfield last week – comfortable in possession but fucking awful at the back (left back especially) and lost in the final third. Young was poor today. I know he came back from a lengthy lay-off but, still, no excuse.
You can have all the possession in the world but if you don’t do anything with the ball it’s pointless and you can end up getting stung – as we did when we went 1-0 down.
Chelsea didn’t test him in the way they should have
They didn’t rough him up or put balls over his head, really
There was one early on, but that was it
In other news Torres is still shit
I agree with sheesh.
Watch the torres chance at 3-2. rio is done of easily for the flick and then begs for the free kick,
He’s done.
We were not favorites to win that game and haven’t won at Stamford Bridge for 10 years in the league.
Great comeback.
great save from De Gea at the end.
What a save by De Gea at the end. It was with the “wrong” hand as well.
Brilliant comeback – finally a second half performance to be proud. And fergie has got to take huge credit for the substitutions.
And you never know, that could be a huge point at the end of the season…
sweet peas movement on the 3rd goal, was class.
we were favourites to win against a chelsea missing terry lampard cole mikel and drogba, we won there last time we played there, this is all more relevant than what happened ten years ago
good result considering we were 3-0 down. but it was criminal defending that got us there in the first place. and then we had a couple of dodgy penalties.
anyway, hopefully this will give us some confidence, with nani and cleverley due to return.
Another Giggs/Hernandez goal
Rooney does well initially in that move. He takes the ball, finds space and hits the target. Proper striker play.
Best game he’s had for a while
Finally Fergie admits he’s wrong, stated in the after match chat with good old Geoff that he should have started with Hernandez over Welbeck.He went on to say that Welbeck will be a top player but he’s handing over to Hernandez. I totally agree*
I cannot disagree with that, Welbeck might come into his own in a year or two but Hernandez must start when fit.
*This is my personal opinion and not representative of any 3rd parties.
In the end , its a point won, that point could be vital.
ANOTHER ROLLERCOASTER OF EMOTIONS WATCHING A UNITED MATCH.
Hernandez should have started today if only because he loves playing against Chelsea. Some strikers play well against certain teams. I was amazed he was left on the bench.
nice
Garry Neville was shattered in the sky studio after that.
Rooney deserved that MoM…
Pity the defines didn’t have as much class..
Could be a MASSIVE point tho as City’s GD is so much better, we don’t want to keep being 3 points behind (which would effectively be 4)
quite fantastic save that.
MANCHESTER IS MY HEAVEN- SIR MATT BUSBY
that’s a good point.
still, we should have beaten that chelsea team comfortably.
Bloody hell Knobby…
Don’t you ever take a day off moaning?
Knobby’s right though, we should have won that game on paper
But football is played on grass, and under the circumstances (dodgy as fuck ref, wanker defenders, no Vidic), we did well to get a point
scholes is still crazily good. a couple of sloppy forward passes, but the way he makes the team tick is just astonishing. we’re too fucking reliant on him.
To be fair, Alf, I can see where he’s coming from.
Given the players Chelsea were missing today, and the fact that we had players like Rooney and Young back in the side, I would have been disappointed with anything less than 3 points before the start of the game.
Obviously, given what transpired, a draw doesn’t feel as bad…but I’m not over the moon about it.
Our players will take a lot from today’s result, and they should, but we can’t keep giving silly goals away.
We won’t really know whether it was a point gained or lost until the end of the season IMO.
The Bitters dropped all 3 here before Christmas.
“Badges, to god-damned hell with badges! We have no badges. In fact, we don’t need badges. I don’t have to show you any stinking badges, you god-damned cabrón and ching’ tu madre! Come out from that shit-hole of yours. I have to speak to you.””Badges, to god-damned hell with badges! We have no badges. In fact, we don’t need badges. I don’t have to show you any stinking badges, you god-damned cabrón and ching’ tu madre! Come out from that shit-hole of yours. I have to speak to you.”
Forget the players Chelsea were missing – what about Vidic, Cleverley, Nani, Lindegaard, Jones, Anderson and Fletcher??
We have better strength in depth to compensate.
So that makes up for us missing key players? And who in our squad can possibly compensate for Vidic? Or Cleverley – who offers something completely different to any of our other midfielders.
Aye. A Chelsea rent boy on 606 said he would have bitten your hand off for a draw before kick off
In other news what are we going to do about Evra
Where’s Fabio
The Renties miss Terry… we miss Vidic more.
The Renties miss Drogba… we miss Nani more.
Young is gash, and so is our defense…
The only reason you’d have fancied us today, is because of Chelseas current position in the table… it suggests they’re worse than they actually are.
In my opinion… their biggest problem is House Snakes… seriously, what the fuck does the Cossack see in that useless cunt?
He sacked a class manager like Ancelotti, for that numpty…
He might be a billionaire… but he’s thick as shit when it comes to running a football club.
fuck off we were favorites
aye the same fucking horoscope/gypsy rose making us favorites against city, blackburn and newcastle
i know you spout shit often but with our dodgy defence, pensionable midfield and piss poor recent record at this ground, a point gained after being 3 down is something to be celebrated and not berated
fucking coco the knobhead clown
Amusing reading the comments after the games finished.
Half of you are pessimistic whinging cunts.
Brian is just a cunt.
Superb display from De Gea.
I want to stab Alan Green in the fucking balls. Irish cunt. Him, Danny Mills… all biased Scouse wankers.
Could have had 5 pens today, should have had 3, we got 2. And yet somehow this is evidence of pro-United bias.
Dry your eyes.
I’m his biggest critic but Carrick was excellent and has been consistently good since Newcastle. He gives a balance that hasn’t been there for a while
Yeah he was brilliant today. Much better than Rooney, don’t know how we got MotM. He was average at best, well taken pens but not much else. Poor first touch and dodgy passes.
I agree about Hernandez starting – would have made sense. Doesn’t change the fact that Welbeck is in better form though.
Alf, on paper at least, they ought to have missed Terry more than we missed Vidic. They have no other natural leaders in the side. We have Ferdinand, Evra, Rooney and Giggs.
In defence we at least had the experience of Ferdinand. I know Evans was shit today but I don’t think he’s been our worst defender this season.
We had strong attacking options, we had a wealth of strikers to pick from.
Who can compensate for Cleverley? Why, Paul Scholes, of course. He should have started the game today. Him not starting with Giggs on the left is probably the reason why we looked so clueless up front in the first half.
“So that makes up for us missing key players?”
Well…uh…yeah.
Edit – Alf, you mean to tell me that an out of form Torres is an adequate replacement for Drogba? Pull the other one, mate!
Vidic = best centre half in the country. Any side would miss him.
Bizarre game. Gotta be glad with a draw after being 3-0 down but we were the better side for 80 minutes. best performance at anfield and the bridge for a few years and we’ve won neither. Such is life.
I have a feeling that a combination of not being quite solid enough at the back and not quite ruthless enough up front will cost us come may. And ironally enough its centre midfield that’s seen as being the biggest issue for us.
theres only 2 moaning cunts on here and they know who they are
You racist cunt
But Alan Green was disowned as an Irishman a long time ago
And WTF were them cunts booing Ferdinand? Thick cunts
To add to leaving early and booing at the end. Rancid spoilt fanbase.
LKHF
KNOBCAP
I agree, and apparently he spent £28M to ditch Ancelotti : http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/feb/08/chelsea-accounts-villas-boas-ancelotti
Madness
FFP should offer managers more protection