Will Villas-Boas play with Gary Cahill and David Luiz? We know what happened last time when Luiz played his début game for Chelsea. The Blues went onto win the fixture 2-1, thanks to a Luiz scoring a fantastic volley, which was the equaliser, and his man of the match display. I am not saying Cahill will score in emphatic fashion, he rarely gets forward from the back anyway, but we may witness another performance like Luiz’s.
But Chelsea’s main problem lies in midfield. The industrious Ramires, who normally does all of the running in midfield, is out of action for up to four weeks, which is a big blow for Chelsea. Their midfield has not been ticking this season on a consistent basis. Frank Lampard is a doubt, but reports have emerged that he is set to play. After all, Chelsea need his experience in the middle. Raul Meireles has been a poor signing – the transition from central midfield to, essentially, a holding midfielder has not gone as planned. We have to remember, also, that Meireles was one of the reasons Chelsea lost by three goals to one at Old Trafford, earlier in the season. Things wont be the same this time round, you would think.
(Insert Chelsea section. Tried to add something.)
United also have similar problems, most notably – Anders Lindegaard is out for at least a month. The Dane has enjoyed a great streak of games under his belt, showing tremendous confidence and displacing David de Gea on the bench. Ben Amos is in contention to start, let us not forget that. He has looked relatively comfortable in the two games he has played in this season, against Crystal Palace in the Carling Cup and Stoke City in the Premier League. Nonetheless, most people expect de Gea to start this crucial fixture, but questions are still being asked of the Spaniard.
No problems in defence, as of late. Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans are hot on form, which is great to see. Rio Ferdinand should start the fixture, alongside either Smalling or Evans, either one will do, but you still get a sense that Smalling is more dominant. No questions at right back or left back, but let us hope Patrice Evra continues the fine form he has been in for the last few weeks.
The squad should be boosted with the return of Tom Cleverley, Nani, Ashley Young and Wayne Rooney. I strongly doubt that we will see Cleverley and Young start, but we will definitely see Nani and Rooney feature from the beginning. Those two are crucial, granted that they have not been in the best of form over recent weeks.
A win is crucial, we are currently level on points with City. We need to win every game leading up to the game at the Etihad, which, I know, is easier said that done, but it is not impossible. The loss of Terry and Cole is a big blow for Chelsea, and we should really be looking at taking advantage of their defensive frailties.
Rushed it, not my best, but something had to be put up. Sorry.
Edited by Sir Ali, 11 February 2012 - 05:51 PM.
