5 Ways Chelsea Can Beat Manchester United

Manchester United vs Chelsea: The Title Decider!

As the season is nearing its end, something unexpected came to threaten leaders Manchester United from getting their record 19th Premier League title. After the comprehensive defeat at the hands of Arsenal, Manchester United now see defending champions Chelsea clawing their way up the ladder and close the gap to just three points. The Blues, having had a mid-season slump, have returned to their mighty best with the additions of Fernando Torres (who has finally found his feet) and David Luiz to enhance their squad. All their hard work seems to pay off as they have managed to climb back on from the fifth spot to the second spot. This Sunday, they will face Manchester United who are currently 3 points ahead of them. If they manage to win on Sunday, they will become leaders based on goal difference and more likely to retain their title.

But can they do it? Here are five ways Chelsea can beat Manchester United at Old Trafford:

1. Drop Fernando TorresThe 50mil man broke his duck against West Ham and thus finally found his feet in the Chelsea shirt. The scoring meant that he took a huge burden off his shoulders after having deemed a flop by the media. Still, Torres is still not comfortable with the team’s style of play although his form was better as seen in the Tottenham game last weekend. But as this clash will be the title decider, Carlo Ancelotti has to drop him to make sure it wasn’t the mistake like he had made last time. Why do we risk an important game by putting a wobbly player in the starting line-up?

Should be dropped to the bench

2. Play 4-3-3Since Torres has arrived, Ancelotti has tried to ‘gel’ Drogba and Torres together to make a deadly strike force but has failed as Torres has proved incapable of playing alongside Drogba. Nevertheless, Ancelotti made a change recently by changing the formation to the old 4-3-3 and voila, they made their way into the second place by scoring almost 3 goals in every game. As the 4-3-3 is better than the 4-4-2, it’s crucial that Ancelotti picks the right formation and the right line-up.

3. Let Solomon Kalou startSolomon Kalou is seen with a glum face after scoring his goal against Tottenham Hotspur last week. Many reports said it is because of the rotating system Ancelotti uses and he for one, isn’t fond of it. Kalou has been seen only as a sub for the past five years and he is still trying to win the manager’s heart. Seeing Kalou in the past years, his contribution to the club is priceless and he always becomes the unsung hero of the team. Now, Chelsea has to change and make him their hero, and no doubt he will show his worth this Sunday. It’s thus absolutely vital that Ancelotti wakes up to this and lets Kalou start.

The Unsung Hero

4. Attack from the startUnited have this trend of suffering against teams that really have a go at them. Case in point is how Liverpool mauled them this season. King Kenny’s men absolutely bombarded the United defence right from the start and that should be applied directly into Chelsea’s match tactics. After all, they do have all the players needed to bring devastation to the Red Devils. Vidic may be an important player and probably will become the last man but if the attacking play begins from the start, the whole line of defence may be in trouble.

The Theatre Of Dreams: An intimidating atmosphere

5. Absorb the Old Trafford atmosphere.Ask John Terry and he will know what it takes to win at Old Trafford. The Blues did it last year and fair enough, it was regarded as the stepping stone towards the title for Chelsea. Weirdly enough, they have something similar to do this time around. And the best way would be to absorb the intimidating atmosphere, just as they did last season. Ancelotti and his men will be aware that a victory would bring back the title destiny to their hands and believe me when I say that there’s not other more satisfying place to accomplish it than at the fortress of their fierce rivals, Manchester United.