Chelsea vs Manchester United preview

April 5, 2011
By: Frank Beresford

The all England Champions League quarter-final is set to bring us a lot of excitement with the fans at Stamford Bridge likely to witness another great game between fierce rivals.

Having virtually lost all chances to fight for the Premiership title after sharing spoils with Stoke, the Blues will shift their focus towards the Champions League campaign and try to win the title for the first time in their history.

Just over a month ago Carlo Ancelotti’s side beat United at Stamford Bridge after coming from a goal behind and they are now 5.50 (9/2) at William Hill to come from behind and draw or win.

The hosts will be without David Luiz, who is ineligible, but Fernando Torres will be in contention for the starting place. With the Spaniard yet to score his first goal in Chelsea shirt, Paddy Power pays 2.88 (17/9) on Torres at score anytime.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Cech – Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole – Essien, Ramires, Lampard, Malouda – Drogba, Anelka.

Manchester United enter this game after creating a seven-point advantage over their rivals in the Premiership title race, which should give them an extra edge over Chelsea.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s men staged an amazing comeback at the weekend, having beaten West Ham 4:2 despite trailing two goals at half-time and that was just the reaction Fergie wanted to see before such an important game.

Manchester United are without a win at Stamford Bridge since 2002 and they will be obviously looking to end the dismal run, with away win paying no less than 3.80 (14/5) at Betfair.

The difficult injury situation is the only thing that can hurt the good atmosphere in the squad, although Edwin van der Sar should feature after missing the West Ham game through groin injury.

Rio Ferdinand has resumed training following the lengthy spell on the sidelines, but he is a major doubt, just like Darren Fletcher, who is still struggling with a virus.

Anderson and Michael Owen should be in contention, but Hargreaves, O’Shea, Rafael, Lindegaard and Brown all miss out through injury.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Van der Sar – Fabio, Smalling, Vidic, Evra – Scholes, Carrick – Valencia, Rooney, Nani – Hernandez.

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