Premier League - Manchester United vs Chelsea

The corresponding fixture last season, as many will remember, was in the thick of Chelsea's dogfight with Arsenal and Tottenham for a Top 4 finish. The Blues traveled north knowing even a draw would put them in good stead going into the final 2 weeks of the season, and it appeared as if that would be just what the Londoners would get as the final whistle drew near, but a crucial strike from Juan Mata in the 87th minute secured all 3 points for the Blues, sending the traveling Chelsea supporters into delirium and all but assuring a Top 4 finish.









Headlines and back-pages this summer have unsurprisingly been dominated in large part by these two sides - not concerning their rivalry for the title, however, but United star Wayne Rooney. Chelsea confirmed in July that they had made a bid for the England international, and the saga over his future has dominated the transfer narrative ever since, with United adamant the striker is not for sale, and Chelsea intransigent in their pursuit nonetheless.









José Mourinho will doubtless be reminding his squad of their good record and series of performances against the Red Devils in the 5 meetings between the two last season, and Juan Mata, in particular, has enjoyed himself against United in recent outings, producing several moments of absolute brilliance in almost every one of the last several meetings, including a brilliant volley at the Bridge in 2012 in the dramatic 3-3 draw, a stunning free-kick at the Bridge in the controversial 2-3 defeat last October, and a pinpoint-accurate ball to Demba Ba that produced a tie-winning goal to knock Alex Ferguson's men out of the FA Cup and crush their dreams of a domestic Double.










Romelu Lukaku, too, will be relishing the prospect of featuring on Monday. The Belgian wonderkid scored a dramatic closing day hat-trick against United while on loan at West Bromwich Albion to spoil Sir Alex Ferguson's final match as manager by leading the Baggies to a thrilling 5-5 draw at the Hawthorns. After an impressive showing against Aston Villa after being subbed on by José Mourinho for a 25 minute cameo, during which he caused Paul Lambert's men all sorts of problems, the young striker will certainly be fancying his chances at a start over Demba Ba and Fernando Torres, whom both had dismal showings in their respective matches since the campaign kicked off at the weekend.









Injured for the home side are Ashley Young, Rafael, Nani, and infamous Chelsea torturer Javier Hernandez

( ), while David Luiz remains a doubt for Chelsea with an ongoing hamstring injury, though José

Mourinho did say it's highly possible the Brazilian could make his return at Old Trafford.

DAT LINK!!     

ffs Shed, your previews are already top quality, but dat link ffs

Despite how early it is in the season, three points here would be a huge step forward in our title campagin

I think this could be a real boost if we can win here, We'll be 3 points clear of them already and will be able to march on while I could see Moyes stuttering if they lose.

We need to be strong in this game, and hope mou instills good tactics for us. So far I am not impressed by how we have been playing. United are very clinical in their attack, we really should put everything in this match and treat this as a final.

I'm not impressed with our attack.. but should be ok, at least a draw

chances of mata and lamps playing?

Pretty high for both.

They probably both will but I hope they don't start. Mata isn't fit and Lamps in the pivot against a stronger side isn't a good idea for me.

Ideally our band of 3 will be:

Eddie - Oscar - Tintin

Just win.

Yeah both are not suitable to start right now from what we saw in the first two games...

I read a stat on Sky Sports News, that Moyes has never beaten Mourinho.

Fergie only beat him once(or twice if I'm mistaking) so its not out of the ordinary.

Wenger has also never beaten Mourinho.

Blue Barrett wrote:Fergie only beat him once(or twice if I'm mistaking) so its not out of the ordinary.

Wenger has also never beaten Mourinho.

Yes but to be justifiable, Mourinho has a more powerful squad. On paper our current team looks better, but they don't play it, so I'm going to say this game is more or less up in the air.

Blue Barrett wrote:Fergie only beat him once(or twice if I'm mistaking) so its not out of the ordinary.

Wenger has also never beaten Drogba.

fixed xD

For some reason I'm not feeling too confident about this match..  

I feel we'll do fine.

Might be time to get rid of that avatar, Soul

We should just take out RVP and cop the red. Without him we'd easily beat them with 10.

Maybe haha

Yeah RVP is the proper threat, unless Rooney thinks of impressing Mou...

David Moyes ready to gamble on playing Wayne Rooney against Chelsea:
David Moyes is prepared to risk unleashing Wayne Rooney on Chelsea on Monday, despite the Manchester United forward’s determination to force a move to Jose Mourinho’s team
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/players/wayne-rooney/10263663/David-Moyes-ready-to-gamble-on-playing-Wayne-Rooney-against-Chelsea.html

"Wayne has got a good chance of playing. He’s got a good chance of playing against Chelsea, a good chance of starting."

Do it, He'll flop hard and we'll win

Oscar eyes early advantage over United:
http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1533231/chelsea-oscar-eyes-early-advantage-manchester-united?cc=5901

"If we win we can open up a gap of six points to Manchester United already, in addition to the fact they’re the champions and the importance a victory against them has."

"We know it will be difficult but nevertheless we know we can win at Old Trafford. We did it last year and we’ll hope to accomplish the same this year. It’s obviously a very important match, and the first of two in succession with Manchester United and Bayern Munich, which are clearly big for us."

"We are hopeful we can play well, it’s true it’s only the start of the championship but we can’t be complacent, this is such an important game and we’re sure if we put everything into practice all we are planning in training we can get the three points which will be great for us."

"They are one of the best teams we will play against, one of our greatest rivals and undoubtedly come the end of the season they will be fighting for titles. For this reason we know we need to play well. It will be difficult for us but at the same time it will be difficult for them."