Premier League - Manchester United vs Chelsea

Nedved wrote:I feel Costa is gonna play.

4pm Manchester United v Chelsea |  #MUNCHE  |  More on Live Match Centre >>

• Manchester United have won six of their last 22 Barclays Premier League matches against Chelsea.
• Chelsea have kept clean sheets in their last two BPL matches at Old Trafford. They have not kept 3+ clean sheets in a row there since a spell of five between 1968 and 1972.
• United have had a man sent off in two of their last three Barclays Premier League encounters with Chelsea.
• The last man to score a goal in this fixture (at Old Trafford) was Juan Mata, playing for the Blues.
• Angel Di Maria has assisted a goal in four of his last five Barclays Premier League matches for Manchester United.
• Cesc Fabregas has been involved in eight goals (one goal, seven assists) in eight league matches for Chelsea.
• Robin van Persie has scored six Barclays Premier League goals against Chelsea but all of them have come at Stamford Bridge.
• Only 14 players have started for Chelsea in the Barclays Premier League this season, a smaller spread than any other team, while Manchester United have used 30 players in the Premier League this season, more than any other club.
• Chelsea are the only Barclays Premier League opponents that Man Utd have lost more matches (15) against than won (13) against.
• John Terry should make his 430th BPL appearance in this match; he will overtake Frank Lampard as the player with the most appearances for Chelsea in the competition.

"Everything has happened to him."

"But he has a little chance of playing. We are trying."

"I think Costa will play."

"He can play maybe because I have read on the websites that he has trained this week. I also have my eyes open."

"He has scored nine out of seven which is remarkable. He is in good shape but he was ill yesterday."

"When you are trying to win the championship every stadium, every opponent, every game is about three points but it’s a place to enjoy. I went there at Soccer Aid and enjoyed it. The stadium was full and even the players who were not footballers – the actors, singers, comedians – they were feeling the atmosphere in the stadium and enjoyed it so much that I enjoyed it too, and that was just a charity game."

"It’s a place you have to enjoy. Did you see the tackle I made? If I could do it on Sunday, I would."

"And it’s the same referee, Phil Dowd. So if I see Di Maria in front of me, dribbling, BOOM!"

"I like to be top of the league, especially because it gives you a little space for a mistake."

"We can at this moment be 100 per cent sure that we will leave Old Trafford top of the league. When you win something coming from behind you deserve credit, but then you would have depended on other results."

"When I was second at Inter Milan, we won the title because Sampdoria beat Roma. We depended always on others."

"For me, it’s better to be top and not depending on other teams’ results. It’s a little advantage, a little one, when you are top of the league. We are confident about ourselves and in a good moment and situation. There’s no reason for us to change our feelings."

"Yes, we are going to play a big team and sometimes, at the end of the game, in the last minute, a point might be a good result. But we are not going there for one point. We want three. I’m not interested in thinking which team United play, who is playing or not."

"I’m not interested."

The question of whether Diego Costa leads the Chelsea attack for the first time in a game at Old Trafford is a straight-forward one reports Jose Mourinho as Sunday’s big match draws near.

If the Barclays Premier League’s joint topscorer is fit enough to take to the pitch then he will be selected. There will be no thought towards easing him back into action with an eye on the weeks ahead.

“I don’t protect players before a Man United game, unless he cannot play,” explains Mourinho.

“If there is a chance of playing, Old Trafford is not the place to protect players, it is the place to put the players who want to play and are ready to play. If Diego is ready to play, he plays.”