Manchester United may not be at the heights of their usual selves, but a red scalp at Old Trafford is worth as much today as it always is.
United have a plethora of defensive injuries, but Phil Jones returned last week, so the standard back 4 of Shaw, Rojo, Jones and Rafael is likely to start. So far United have conceded 12 goals, against relatively meek opponents in Leicester, Swansea, Sunderland and West Ham. Their biggest result has been a 2-1 win over Everton. Di Maria is expected to be fit, and has been by far the best performer for United this season. Rooney is still banned, and Falcao didn’t start last week, so is a possibility. Chelsea may see Mata on the opposing team for the first time. The Red Devils have scored 15 goals so far this term.
Chelsea have had injuries in the striking department this week, with Rémy ruled out for 2 weeks, but Diego Costa has travelled with the squad. Ramires, Mikel and Schurrle have all returned to fitness. Azpilicueta is banned, so Filipe Luis is likely to come in, with the standard defence staying the same. What team is put out will depend on Mourinho’s thoughts about United. Last season he gave them a lot of respect and put out a defensive team to secure a draw, when he really could have gone for the jugular. If you see Oscar starting, expect Chelsea to go all out for the win, if it’s Mikel/Ramires, it will be a cagey affair.
Kick off is at 16:00, team news out at 15:00, and live game tags will be cfc, mufc, and epl.
Sidenote: after West Ham’s brilliant win over Man City yesterday, Jose messaged Sam Allardyce to thank him, an 8 point gap over City would be something to rejoice over.
source: http://supersuperchelsea.tumblr.com/post/100995686169/todays-massive-game
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