5 things to look forward to when Manchester United take on Chelsea

Old Trafford is the place to be on Sunday as Manchester United take on Chelsea in what may prove to be a 6-pointer in the race for the Champions League places. For Chelsea, this is first of two successive away Premier League games in Manchester and the one which they have a more realistic chance taking some points from.

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The last time they met this season - at Stamford Bridge - ended up in a 1-0 to the home side thanks to a header from Alvaro Morata. Both of them will be looking for a big result after draws against Spanish sides in the Champions League midweek, although Chelsea will be arguably the buoyant side having held the mighty Barcelona to a draw.

The biggest benefactors of this tie, however, will likely be Liverpool and Spurs with at least one of their competitors sure to drop points.

There is history of course between both the clubs with Jose Mourinho, Juan Mata, as well as Nemanja Matic all having been previously employed by Chelsea. Chelsea have an added incentive to win in order to do the double over United for the first time since 2009-10.

There is always something to look forward to when these two giants of the English game meet.

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#5 Can Lukaku score against a top side?

Lukaku has a poor record against the top six

Much has been made of Romelu Lukaku's debut season for Manchester United. It has certainly not been a bad season for him having already had a return of 21 goals in all competitions, but much more was expected of him. Inconsistency has been his main issue. After a blazing start to his United career, the goals seem to have dried up.

What he has been consistent in, though, is failing to score against the big sides in the Premier League. He has four shots on target and zero goals in six matches against the other top-six sides.

That is a run that needs to end as soon as possible, both for United as well as his own confidence. He, of course, hasn't been helped by United's tendency to sit back against these sides, leaving him isolated at the top.

The match against Chelsea, one of his former clubs, will be a perfect time to break this run and show the world that he is not just a flat-track bully.

#4 Will Chelsea start with a striker?

Will either of Morata or Giroud start at Old Trafford?

Like Lukaku, Chelsea frontman Alvaro Morata's form has also been in the decline since his fast start to life in the Premier League. Since his winner against United back in early November, he has only scored three league goals and has looked low on confidence.

That prompted Chelsea to look for another option in the January transfer window and they purchased Olivier Giroud from their London rivals Arsenal. Giroud scored his first goal for the club in the FA Cup thrashing of Hull City.

Neither of them started Chelsea's biggest game of the season against Barcelona in mid-week and that could be a blueprint that Conte follows in his remaining big games this season. Instead, it was Eden Hazard who was their furthermost player. It was a tactic employed by Conte so as to have enough legs in midfield to control the game, with Willian and Pedro having to do a lot of work helping the team without the ball as well as counter with pace.

However, in the last two Premier League games that Hazard has started up top, Chelsea lost 1-4 to Watford and 0-3 to Bournemouth. Giroud started their last match against West Brom which they won 3-0.

It will be interesting to see if Conte replicates his Barcelona tactics or goes more adventurous and starts one of their strikers.

#3 Will United's big guns show up?

Pogba and Sanchez need to step up their games

In recent weeks, the limelight has fallen on one Paul Pogba, after his indifferent form United in past weeks - so much so that Jose Mourinho hugged a reporter post-match for not asking him about the Frenchman.

"Scott McTominay played very well...""Can I hug you?! Thank you, thank you!""No more Pogba questions!" 😂@DesKellyBTS and José Mourinho hug it out after the match 🤗 pic.twitter.com/OFIIhkYLyZ

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 21, 2018

There have been reports of a fallout between Jose and Pogba, but the latter certainly needs to up his ante. Scott McTominay has been highly praised by Mourinho for taking his chance in the first team but Pogba is still the main man at United and what better game than against Chelsea to show that.

Criticism has been raised against his defensive contribution to the team. Points have been made that he is at his best when allowed to roam forward and do his thing. But in a Mourinho team, and especially in big matches, everybody has defensive responsibilities, and if you aren't ready for that, Jose will drop you no matter how big you are.

With Herrera injured, however, Pogba will likely start and he will need to show the boss that he can be trusted.

Another big-name player who has failed to live up to the expectations has been January signing Alexis Sanchez. Indeed he has had to quickly settle into United's attack, but he has never really looked like the man that United believed was worth being their highest-paid player.

One month on, it is time he delivers for United and on his day, he certainly is a world-beater. United will hope that it is his day.

#2 Who will take the attack to the opposition?

Both teams need a midfielder to take charge

Chelsea generally set up with a three-man midfield - usually Kante, Fabregas and Bakayoko - when they play against a big team. Then they leave Hazard and Morata up top to do the attacking. However, Bakayoko has been poor this season.

Willian and Pedro started against Barcelona and formed a four-man midfield while defending and provided the pace to counter-attack.

In either case, Conte likes his team to be well-organized and play on the counter against big teams. This is also the case with Mourinho's United.

United have almost always set up in a 4-2-3-1, but have occasionally reverted to a three-man defense or a 4-3-3. In almost all their big games, including at home, they look to counter-attack the opposition with Pogba, Martial and Lukaku.

Hence these are two sides who let the other team have possession and then attack on the counter when they gain possession. It will be interesting to see who will have more of the ball when they meet and who takes the attack to the opposition.

Both teams have four matches to play against teams in the top six - this being the first of them. Chelsea arguably need the three points more than United, but playing at Old Trafford, one would expect United to be on the front foot right from kick-off.

#1 Mourinho vs Conte

Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho are sworn rivals

There is seemingly nobody in the football world that Jose Mourinho hasn't picked up a fight with. But his full-fledged war of words with Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is arguably his most infamous and controversial.

It all started last season when Chelsea won 4-0 against United at The Bridge. Mourinho accused Conte of humiliating them with his celebrations. In the Summer of 2017, after Chelsea had won the title, Conte remarked that they did not want to "do a Mourinho season", He was clearly referring to the 2015-16 season when then-Chelsea boss Mourinho, after having won the league the previous season, was sacked midway for a series of poor results.

The feud reached its crescendo this past January when Mourinho told reporters that he did not act as a "clown". This was considered to be an indirect jibe at Conte (who is known for his celebrations), who called Mourinho "senile". Mourinho referenced Conte's match-fixing probe (in which he was exonerated) and this clearly didn't sit down well with the Chelsea boss, who responded by saying that Jose was "a little man".

Expect this rivalry to reach fever-pitch on the pitch on Sunday in this latest installment with tensions running high. Who will get the last laugh - at least for this season? Will the two shake hands after the match, as is customary?