The hosts still lead the title race with a seven-point stranglehold over second-placed Arsenal, but there is very little separating the two sides in terms of their league form. Following their impressive results against other big guns like Liverpool, Tottenham and most recently, Manchester City, United are among the biggest climbers of the league so far, but that is mainly because Chelsea have had no other position to climb to, as they remain at the apex of the log.
A lot is at stake going into the game. Should the Blues beat United, they would have extinguished a clear and present danger to their title aspirations thus far. Save for the David Moyes catastrophe of last season, Manchester United are usually strong finishers and Jose Mourinho would not be comfortable having them breath down his neck with so many games to go and so many possible meanders along the way to the finish line. The Portuguese mentor would thus, relish the chance to solve the United equation himself, after his hope for what could have been a Manchester City solution ended in a 4-2 drubbing of Manuel Pellegrini side.
With an average eight games to go and 24 points on offer, Chelsea remain firmly in ahead, but not out of reach for the visitors, so Louis van Gaal – with very little to lose, might be forced to throw all his potent strikers into the fray at the Stamford Bridge. For evidence of what such a move is capable of producing, the Manchester City game of last week can be a good reference point.
Mathew Flamini, Radamel Falcao, Wayne Rooney, Angel di Maria and Ashley Young thrust in the same line-up can strike the fear of God in any opposition defence and Chelsea have previously shown that their defence can sometimes be left chasing shadows – Mourinho having been forced to stitch it after that 5-3 drubbing by a marauding Tottenham Hotspur some months ago.
Three points at the expense of the hosts would bring United to within five points of the top, albeit with one more game played than the hosts, but the morale would have swung beautifully for them away from the scale-side of the leaders.
Manchester City, still smarting from the drubbing by their city neighbours, host West Ham United, hoping to pick themselves up and gallop away from fifth-placed Liverpool, who lie four points below them, following The Super Reds’ 2-0 home win over Newcastle on Monday night.
Other fixtures:
Saturday: Everton vs Burnley; Crystal Palace vs West Bromwich Albion; Leicester City vs Swansea City; Stoke City vs Southampton FA Cup Reading vs Arsenal
Sunday: Newcastle vs Tottenham Hotspur
FA Cup
Aston Villa vs Liverpool
Post published in: Football