Manchester United v. Chelsea, 26/10/14, SS1 16:00 - Mod Note in OP

DazMarz

http://eplindex.com/60527/manchester-united-chelsea-preview-team-news-key-men-stats.html

Chelsea travel to Old Trafford for one of the biggest fixtures of the English footballing calender.

Chelsea are in irresistible form at the moment, having only dropped 2 points in the League all season, and are coming off the back of having thrashed Maribor 6-0 on Tuesday night. Costa and Remy are injury doubts for the game, so Chelsea may be reliant upon Didier Drogba to lead the line. Azpilcueta suspended, so Luis will be starting at LB.

United are having a very patchwork season so far, and have come off a disappointing 2-2 draw with West Brom on Monday night. The extra day of rest could benefit United's squad ahead of this huge fixture.

This could be an absolute cracker, as one of the best defences in the league meets one of the most exciting attacking line-ups in the league.

It could go either way, but I would predict that Chelsea will win, catching United on the counter. 1-3 or so would be my guess at a scoreline.

MOD NOTE - This is a topic for Man United vs Chelsea - Keep the discussion on topic please.

GavRedKing

Jose hasnt ruled out Costa yet.

I guess we'll see at about 3pm sunday if Costa plays or not.

Johner

Costa will play I'd imagine, can't wait for this.

grumpymunster

Will be interesting this. Di Maria and Falcao can hurt any team in the world but Di Maria will need to put in a defensive shift as well.

Hazard, Cesc & Matic should be the winning of this game with or without Costa.

ScummyMan

I wouldn't be so sure of Chelsea's defense, they have leaked some dodgy goals this year. Still think they'll have too much for United, should be a cracking game though. 1-3.

---

De Gea

---

--Rafael--Jones--Rojo

---

Shaw--

---

Herrara----Blind

---

---

Fellaini

---

---

---

Di Maria

---

---

RVP

---

Falcao

---

Is how I see United lining up, but any of Mata/Valencia/Carrick/Young/Januzaj could swap in. Very hard to call.

Chelsea is easy, as usual under Mourinho:

---

Courtois

---

--Ivanovic---Cahill

---

Terry----Azpiliqueta--

---

Fabregas--Matic

---

--Schurrle

---

Oscar

---

Hazard--

---

Costa

---

Johner

ScummyMan wrote: »

Chelsea is easy, as usual under Mourinho:

---

Courtois

---

--Ivanovic---Cahill

---

Terry----Azpiliqueta--

---

Fabregas--Matic

---

--Schurrle

---

Oscar

---

Hazard--

---

Costa

---

Azpilicueta is suspended and I would say Willian will start over Schurrle.

Talib Fiasco

I threw a sneaky tenner at Chelsea -2 for this. 3-1 seems a solid prediction but you never know how things will pan out with these two.

OwaynOTT

Honestly don't think it will be a cracker. Chelsea have a past history of playing all out defence.
It will be a big test of Utd's top 4 credentials and in that regard it should be interesting.

Can only see one team winning this though.

KombuchaMshroom

Talib Fiasco wrote: »

I threw a sneaky tenner at Chelsea -2 for this. 3-1 seems a solid prediction but you never know how things will pan out with these two.

I hope you realise a 3-1 win for Chelsea would mean Chelsea -2 would be a lost bet.

GavRedKing

grumpymunster wrote: »

Will be interesting this. Di Maria and Falcao can hurt any team in the world but Di Maria will need to put in a defensive shift as well.

Hazard, Cesc & Matic should be the winning of this game with or without Costa.

Matic is key, his presence and ability to break up play is a huge asset especially in these big games.

Happy Luis is playing, offers another dimension, Jose prefers 1 FB to sit while the other attacks, so it could be Ivanovic acting like a 3rd CB while Luis goes on own the left and whips in crosses.

Talib Fiasco

KombuchaMshroom wrote: »

I hope you realise a 3-1 win for Chelsea would mean Chelsea -2 would be a lost bet.

Of course, just saying my -2 bet is a massive long shot and a minus one bet would have been a lot more sensible. Ah well live and die and all that

grumpymunster

grumpymunster wrote: »

Will be interesting this. Di Maria and Falcao can hurt any team in the world but Di Maria will need to put in a defensive shift as well.

Hazard, Cesc & Matic should be the winning of this game with or without Costa.

Problem against West Brom was the Massive gap between Shaw & Di Maria which left us exposed.

Di Maria is wasted if he's spending most of his time tracking back. LVG needs to counter this. Possibly by giving Valencia the nod to double up with Shaw on the left and switch Di Maria to the other side.

Rooney is a big loss Sunday.
I'm not convinced about Mata, too slow in possession and defensively he is weak and get's caught in possession.
I actually think Fellani is going to get the nod for #10 ahead of him. Was impressed with his performance when he came on against WB.

I would like to see Falcoa start.

Defensively the height advantage is going to make Chelsea always a danger in the air, Matic / Terry & Costa.
Interested to see how much of the ball Cesc has in midfield.
As for Costa he will start. His strength and balance....what can you do. All I can hope for is Jones to have a stormer and Costa has an off day (highly unlikely going on current form).

My Team to Start;
De Gea
Rafeal Jones Rojo Shaw
Blind
Di Maria Herrara Valencia
Falleni
Falcoa

Oh and predications: My heart says 3-2 Man Utd
Realistically a 2-1 win to Chelsea but you never know.

GavRedKing

M!Ck^ wrote: »

Problem against West Brom was the Massive gap between Shaw & Di Maria which left us exposed.

Di Maria is wasted if he's spending most of his time tracking back. LVG needs to counter this. Possibly by giving Valencia the nod to double up with Shaw on the left and switch Di Maria to the other side.

Rooney is a big loss Sunday.
I'm not convinced about Mata, too slow in possession and defensively he is weak and get's caught in possession.
I actually think Fellani is going to get the nod for #10 ahead of him. Was impressed with his performance when he came on against WB.

I would like to see Falcoa start possibly alongside RVP.

Defensively the height advantage is going to make Chelsea always a danger in the air, Matic / Terry & Costa.
As for Costa he will start. His strength and balance....what can you do. All I can hope for is Jones to have a stormer and Costa has an off day (highly unlikely going on current form).

My Team to Start;
De Gea
Rafeal Jones Rojo Shaw
Blind
Di Maria Herrara Valencia
Falleni
RVP Falcoa

If ye start with 12 ye'll win :pac:

monkey9

GavRedKing wrote: »

If ye start with 12 ye'll win :pac:

Nah, they still wouldn't.

GavRedKing

GavRedKing wrote: »

If ye start with 12 ye'll win :pac:

oops! :pac:

Thanks Gav..sorted :P

The_Kew_Tour

Bring it ****ing on bitches!!!!

grumpymunster

Yea Rooney is a huge loss for United, quality player would have loved to have got him last season. If we had I think we would have won the league, still was not to be.

Can't see Falcao not starting he may not be fully match fit but again a top quality player who will test our CB's and they can be a little brittle.

GavRedKing

I reckon we'll go

---

Courtois

---

Ivanovic---Cahill---JT---Luis

---

Matic

---

Willian--Oscar--Cesc--Hazard

---

Costa

---

Depending on how Utd line up, those players will allolw us to go 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, 4-5-1

In essence they're all the same formations with a bit of a tweak in roles and defensive duties but I wouldnt be surprised to us start 4-1-4-1 for the first 15mins.

bucketybuck

Chelseas striker problems might be Uniteds only saving grace.

Chelsea have much the better team but I can see Mourinho playing Schurrle up front and flooding the midfield, which will see the game tick along with Chelsea keeping easy possession, probably scoring a few but never really looking like scoring a bagful.

For all Uniteds star names only Di Maria is actually playing well and Mourinho will focus on stopping him. Beyond him we won't compete.

It'll end up 1-0 or 2-0 without ever being an exciting game.

monkey9

Yeah I can't see too many goals in this myself. Can even see it being nil all.

ScummyMan

GavRedKing wrote: »

I reckon we'll go

---

Courtois

---

Ivanovic---Cahill---JT---Luis

---

Matic

---

Willian--Oscar--Cesc--Hazard

---

Costa

---

Depending on how Utd line up, those players will allolw us to go 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, 4-5-1

In essence they're all the same formations with a bit of a tweak in roles and defensive duties but I wouldnt be surprised to us start 4-1-4-1 for the first 15mins.

You think Willian will start ahead of Schurrle?
Schurely not!










Sorry.

GavRedKing

bucketybuck wrote: »

Chelseas striker problems might be Uniteds only saving grace.

Chelsea have much the better team but I can see Mourinho playing Schurrle up front and flooding the midfield, which will see the game tick along with Chelsea keeping easy possession, probably scoring a few but never really looking like scoring a bagful.

For all Uniteds star names only Di Maria is actually playing well and Mourinho will focus on stopping him. Beyond him we won't compete.

It'll end up 1-0 or 2-0 without ever being an exciting game.

I wouldnt say much better, but certainly our defence is better, the rest is 50/50 with utd having better CF options.

I think utd will score, so its down to us to score first.

I posted in the Chelsea thread, the last time we've been behind in a game is Swansea last month, we've not gone behind since and havent been behind since Terrys O.G., some 8 games later, 18goals for, 7 against.

If we go ahead, I'd be confident of at least a draw.

GavRedKing

ScummyMan wrote: »

You think Willian will start ahead of Schurrle?
Schurely not!










Sorry.

Schurrle is a doubt, along with Costa, Ramires, Mikel, Remy definitely out as is Azp whos suspended.

Even if Schurrle was fit he wouldnt play.

P.S. its the easiest joke to make :pac:

Will I Amnt

Easy home win, United by 3.
Am I doing it right? Is that hilarious?

GavRedKing

Will I Amnt wrote: »

Easy home win, United by 3.
Am I doing it right? Is that hilarious?

Reverse jinx


I think Utd by at least 5 is the bet special guest ref, Howard Webb to give 3 penalties to Utd.

Right?

UnitedIrishman

Our backline pretty much picks itself but ahead of that I'm struggling to see how we line up to counteract Chelsea overrunning us bar dropping RVP or not playing Falcao. Only chance IMO is if we match up like for like in a 4-2-3-1 perhaps with Blind and Herrera holding and Di Maria on one side and either Young/Januzaj on the right. If we go with Mata behind Falcao and RVP I fear we're going to get overrun so it's got to be two from the 3 of those.

If Costa doesn't play then I'll feel a lot more confident come half 3.

Turtyturd

Wouldn't be expecting an exciting game here, and think the outcome depends on how Chelsea set themselves up. Mourinho f*cked up here last season by playing for the draw when a lot of lesser teams showed that there was nothing to fear. Will he do it again? If not it should be a straightforward win for Chelsea.

Panthro

Chelsea will tearz zee strips offa zee Unitedz boyz.
(No idea what the implied accent is all about)

KAMON YOU BLUESSSSS!

4-0

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

madcabbage

Heart for Utd, head for Chelsea. I hope Falcao starts and possibly plays a blinder, hasn't even shown a glimpse of what the man is capable of!

Johner

madcabbage wrote: »

Heart for Utd, head for Chelsea. I hope Falcao starts and possibly plays a blinder, hasn't even shown a glimpse of what the man is capable of!

I think he has shown glimpses, his finishing has been a bit poor so far but he has linked the play nicely. I think you have to remember he is still recovering from a serious knee injury, he'll get there but hopefully not Sunday. :pac:

Rayne Wooney

Chelsea should be winning this but you never know how these will turn out

BloodBath

If Costa is not playing I think we can get a result. Maybe 2-1 to United.

If he is playing I think we'll have to be very lucky but I'd say 3-1 Chelsea.

Blue giant

Only way I can see United winning is if we go all out attack for the first half and hedge our bets on being in the lead and then trying to hold on for dear life. It's quite obvious we don't have the players to stay compact for 90 mins. We will need huge performances by Di Maria, Jones and one of Falcao or Van Persie ( both are due a big game ). And DDG of course. I wouldn't be too confident though.

Cantona's Collars

Didn't start the match thread so won't have any of ye doing this if we lose:pac:

Donnielighto

zerks wrote: »

Didn't start the match thread so won't have any of ye doing this if we lose:pac:

And if we win?

Fuhrer

Donnielighto wrote: »

And if we win?

Chelsea should have quite a few tougher games than this in the league this year, Utd defence is terrible and they are continuing where they left off last year after 8 games played.

I think Shaw will be struggling for confidence after Monday and I don't expect a solid game from him.

Drogba will be up for this game massively.
Can't see utd getting anything from the game, I think Chelsea will exploit utds defensive frailties while having enough possession and defensive integrity to dull utds attacking strengths.

I'm not a Mourinho fan but I think he'll be happy on Sunday.

Will I Amnt

Augeo wrote: »

they are continuing where they left off last year after 8 games played.

That's just not true.

Fuhrer

United werent known for their rubbish defence last year, it was the insipid attack.

Rayne Wooney

Augeo wrote: »

Chelsea should have quite a few tougher games than this in the league this year, Utd defence is terrible and they are continuing where they left off last year after 8 games played.

I think Shaw will be struggling for confidence after Monday and I don't expect a solid game from him.

Drogba will be up for this game massively.
Can't see utd getting anything from the game, I think Chelsea will exploit utds defensive frailties while having enough possession and defensive integrity to dull utds attacking strengths.

I'm not a Mourinho fan but I think he'll be happy on Sunday.

So what are you trying to say?

Iused2likebusts

I can see this finishing 2 2. There is goals in this utd team and their best bet is to go at chelsea as they are not strong enough defensively to play it cagey.

Will I Amnt

Will I Amnt wrote: »

That's just not true.

Apologies, what I mean is utd defence is terrible.
Utd continuing where they left off last year after 8 games, ie their points tally is as if last season continued.

Rayne Wooney

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

So what are you trying to say?

Handy 3 points for Chelsea.

Will I Amnt

Augeo wrote: »

Apologies, what I mean is utd defence is terrible.
Utd continuing where they left off last year after 8 games, ie their points tally is as if last season continued.

There's a slow but definite improvement in how the team are playing, this game is still way too early though.

NUTZZ

Big games like this can be strange, form goes out the window and anything can happen on the day, in the pressure. I'm an eternal optimist no matter the opposition but I'm finding it hard to see a United win here, the defense is just far too unsettled still to get 3 points. Unless the attacking quartet can bail them out by scoring a few.

Still though, we have Di Maria so we're gonna win :pac:

Can't wait for this one.

FutureGuy

This is only going to go down one way. Don't get be wrong - would love Falcao to score twice in a 2-0 win but it has to be Chelsea here.

3-1 Chelsea. Hazard MotM

GavRedKing

Closer it gets the happier i am with a draw, even if we lose we still top the table.

Although, if City drop points in the next few hours I'd be going all out to better their result to put some distance between whats arguably our greatest rival this year.

GavRedKing

Ya, now City have lost a draw isnt the worst result in the world, I'd go as far as saying Utd will want to win more given Pool and City have dropped points this weekend.

Alfred Borden

If Chelsea win tomorrow, that should be that. Early enough to be calling it over but 8 points back to their nearest rival is unprecedented at this stage of the season. Going for a draw here though.

Panthro

Raf32 wrote: »

If Chelsea win tomorrow, that should be that. Early enough to be calling it over but 8 points back to their nearest rival is unprecedented at this stage of the season. Going for a draw here though.

Chelseas annual 'November slump' is right around the corner.
But we're safe as its still October so we should beat united, wooo!