United Ready for Mega Clash Against Chelsea

Manchester United face one of their most difficult trips of the Premier League season to date as they travel to Stamford Bridge.

United come off the back of an impressive win over Wigan Athletic away which has put them in a dominant league position. United bounced back well with a 4-0 win following a disappointing goalless draw in the Champions League at Marseille.

The defence of the team shouldn’t be tweaked too much for this mega contest. Patrice Evra is in contention to take his pace at left back but Fabio Da Silva is looking better and better with each first team game he is given. Chris Smalling is growing in stature and reputation and should continue in the middle of the defence.

The midfield could go a number of ways. It’s likely that United will set up with a 4-5-1 formation. Darron Gibson will come back into the team to play down one of the flanks if Sir Alex Ferguson decides that Wayne Rooney would be more productive if he played by himself through the middle.

If Ferguson decides that Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov are not worth separating then Rooney could be the player who is asked to play a little wider. Any combination of two players from Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher and Paul Scholes could start for United in the middle of the midfield.

United will pack out the midfield in order to stop Chelsea having any time or influence in possession of the ball. They are a good enough counter attacking unit to play this way but it’s dangerous because the long ball as a quick release from pressure won’t be a good enough way out.

Javier Hernandez will have to no doubt consider himself unlucky for yet another time in his United career. The Mexican scored twice against Wigan but the calibre of the opposition for this match means that Ferguson will be unlikely to start him ahead of Rooney or Berbatov.

If Hernandez does start in a surprise two man attack then it could be a naïve move because the Mexican could find it tough against physically intimidating Chelsea defenders.

In terms of injuries for the match, Park Ji-Sung, Owen Hargreaves and Antonio Valencia will play no part during the game. Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs and Rafael Da Silva are all carrying small niggles which should keep them out of the side. If Giggs is fit enough then it wouldn’t be a surprise at all to see him on the bench at the very least.