Manchester United v/s Chelsea: A PIE Preview

Old Trafford

The Premier League is only into the early phase and we already have a cracker of a match on our hands.

The Red Devils host Mourinho’s Chelsea at Old Trafford with David Moyes facing his first litmus test. The sides have been going at each other’s throats even before the match, courtesy of the Wayne Rooney transfer saga. Perhaps there is a good chance that Rooney’s intentions could be swung by this match’s outcome and whether he is given a start or not will determine his future.

TEAM NEWS

MANCHESTER UNITED(4-3-3):

De Gea-Jones,Vidic,Ferdinand,Evra-Cleverly,Carrick,Kagawa-Welbeck,Van Persie,Zaha/ValenciaPhil Jones will continue his right back duties in the absence of Rafael. Nani and Young both remain out with injury and United are stuck with Valencia and Zaha as the only viable wingers. Wayne Rooney may or may not start depending upon the transfer intentions of David Moyes. Hernandez who has statistically been a Chelsea head-ache remains in recovery-mode, so no controversial Chicha goals on Monday night for sure.

CHELSEA(4-2-3-1):

Cech-Azpilicueta,Cahill,Terry,Cole-Lampard,Ramires-Schurrle/De Bryune,Oscar,Hazard-Torres

Both Tomas Kalas and David Luiz remain out of contention and won’t feature. John Terry and Gary Cahill are expected to start in the centre back positions. Chelsea currently have a vast amount of options in midfield but expect both Eden Hazard and Oscar to start. Out of Schurrle or De Bruyne, Mourinho will have to choose whether he wants width or not. If the previous matches have been any indications, he may continue with his very narrow attacking mid with De Bruyne included.

MIDFIELD: Ramires v/s Carrick

Ramires and Carrick are two very different midfielders but both hold the key to their deeper midfields. While Carrick likes to calmly begin attacks and hold the ball in static positions, Ramires always moves around and his energy and pace adds another dimension to the Chelsea game-play. There is a good chance that Carrick would be overwhelmed by the Chelsea midfield especially if Oscar tracks back well.

If that were indeed the case then expect Chelsea to dominate at the centre of the park. If Moyes wants to disrupt that, he needs Welbeck to track back into the midfield and add a degree of discomfort to either of Lampard or Ramires. That will expose Evra to Azpillicueta’s forward excursions and give Chelsea some width on that side.

MAN-MARKING: Phil Jones v/s Eden Hazard

Sir Alex Ferguson on more than one occasion used Phil Jones as a man-marker to the opponent’s best player. He has delivered well in that department. He isolated Ronaldo well enough, he took out Fellaini from the game and he will look to do just that to the Chelsea wonder boy Hazard.

But unlike Fellaini, he is much quicker and his gameplay is a fair mixture of Ronaldo and Messi making him deadly to defend against in 1-on-1 situations. This would be a simple preventive measure and Jones would not significantly affect Hazard probably, but even a little would work for United.

ATTACKING PRECISION: The RVP factor

Manchester United have lost out in the midfield on many occasions before but they still manage to win simply because of one reason- goals are everything. If you can’t score, you don’t win and Man United are so deadly in front of the goal that even a few chances on the counter would be enough to put the game to bed.

Compared to that Torres just doesn’t have the scoring edge and Chelsea’s last game against Aston Villa proved that for all their one-twos and passing moves inside the opponent half they can’t conjure goals out of nothing.

They need that finishing touch to their intricate play. Chance and luck will play a heavy part along with a certain deadly Dutchman who would definitely terrorize Terry and co at the back. One simple RVP corner, one out of the blue chance-no pun intended-and Chelsea could easily fall behind.

PREDICTION

A match between a dominant midfield and an overwhelming attack, the result would simply be the outcome of net efficiency for both sides. If the stats are anything to go by given Mourinho’s experience at the highest level, Chelsea would edge past United. PIE predicts a close 2-2 draw between the two sides with Chelsea dominating the match.

K.O Time: 12.30 am(IST), Monday midnight