this was a shot for man utd, we could have easily finished the match in the first half, lots of missed chances...the 1st half could have ended 3-0......
tevez must have played either as a starter or as sub. but he didnt make it to the pitch.SAF!!!!!!!!!!!

BUT this is a good start to get back to the form and start the real competition.

Factors To Consider At The Battle Of The Bridge

Chelsea and Manchester United come to blows this weekend in the second meeting this season between the Premier League's top four. After losing to Liverpool over the weekend will the reigning double winners be able to pick themselves up to get a result in a fortress that is notoriously difficult to salvage even a draw? Or can Chelsea pick up an early nine point lead over a side struggling for form? Alan Dawson looks into the history between the pair, their status in the modern game, ponders any psychological advantage, and notes possible key tactics...


Representatives of the modern game

The Old Trafford side are an established club with pedigree in every competition they have entered. Their marketing deals are synonymous with their success as they tied up back-to-back Premier League titles and a European Cup to boot, while fans from London to Laos, and Abuja to Ankara, all tuned in to cheer.

Chelsea on the other hand are a relatively new heavyweight in European football. They are also one of the richest clubs in the world as they are bankrolled by a wealthy Russian sponsor. Their successes have (for the main part) all been recent and the transformation under Jose Mourinho and Roman Abramovich has arguably had a far greater impact on the Stamford Bridge side than the influence of Ted Drake in the 1950s, although both creeds were poles apart.

It is testament to both sides that other clubs have used either Manchester United or Chelsea as a model for their own team. There are often parallels drawn between Middlesbrough and Arsenal, but Gareth Southgate's reliance on local youth and promotions from the club's academy is reminiscent of Sir Alex Ferguson's class of 92: Ryan Giggs; David Beckham; Nicky Butt; and Gary Neville all lifted the FA Youth Cup that year and went on to become full England internationals. Likewise Stewart Downing, David Wheater, and Lee Cattermole (now at Wigan), have all risen from 'Boro's ranks.

Chelsea have a new fiscal rival, and for the first time in Premier League history Roman Abramovich was outbid for a player as Brazilian forward Robinho was transferred to what the newspaper-press dubbed 'Middle Eastlands' for a British record fee of £32.5million. With rumours that the Citizens have been sniffing around the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Cristiano Ronaldo, David Villa, and Mario Gómez, it appears that Manchester City are going to adopt a similar recruitment policy to the Pensioners: buying well-known proffessionals as opposed to creating and grooming your own.

The psychological advantage

This is the first time the Champions League finalists will face each other since that eventful night in Moscow. Whilst United returned home with an air of orgiastic delight, Chelsea's plane would have contained melancholic suffering and they will be keen to exact a reverse fortune on Sunday afternoon.

Chelsea may contain the upper hand. Their opening season form has been nothing short of exceptional having brushed aside both Portsmouth and Girondins de Bordeaux 4-0 at home.

Manchester United have so far failed to spark and have just lost to Liverpool at Anfield in the league, but will be welcoming back Cristiano Ronaldo who made a guest appearance in the Villarreal deadlock.

Psychologically, Luiz Felipe Scolari has maintained a compos mentis, whereas Sir Alex Ferguson has recently vented his fury over the rescindment of John Terry's red card and subsequent three game ban from his weekend rugby tackle on Manchester City's Jô. The United manager would have felt like the FA were rubbing salt into the Red Devils' wounds after Nemanja Vidic will miss the Stamford clash because of suspension.

Building a competitive rivalry

In the pre-Abramovich era Chelsea and United always had other games that played on their grudgery. The Mancs had Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester City that piqued their pride, and the Blues too enjoyed a two-way hostility toward the Gunners, but more so with neighbour Fulham.

The arrogance of a newly-installed cocky Champions League-winning manager in Jose Mourinho, together with top-class signings such as Michael Essien and Shaun Wright Phillips in 2005, and then Michael Ballack, Ashley Cole, Salomon Kalou, and John Obi Mikel in 2006, were seen as a threat that would destabalise United's ability to conquer.

One key performer for Chelsea of late is John Obi Mikel, but he could have so easily been wearing a different kit come Sunday. In 2005 Manchester United offered Norwegian club Lyn Oslo £4million in order to buy their Nigerian midfielder, Mikel. The deal was struck, it was announced on the Red Devil's website, and Mikel even appeared in a press conference with red shirt in tow, expressing his delight.

However, around the same time, Chelsea countered United's claims that Mikel was theirs, and stated the player had even trained in front of Jose Mourinho. After a long-drawn out saga Chelsea paid £4million to Lyn Oslo, and £12million to United and Ferguson lost out on a prime target.

In the absence of Michael Essien, and in the wake of the departure of Claude Makelele, Mikel will have a crucial role to play in a position that begs for discipline.

Tactics and key players

Chelsea are flowing, and a lot of their attack stems from the bombarding charges of their full backs: Ashley Cole; and Jose Bosingwa - a player who many scorned at his lofty price tag, but should he consistently perform to the level he has shown, then he will prove to be worth all those ducets that Roman shelled out, and more.

If you listen to 'Big Phil' Scolari on the touchline he never stops shouting at the full back that is closest to the dugout: urging him on, ordering the overlap, pulling him back, and so on. There is a large emphasis placed by the Brazilian on the pace from the wide areas of defence, and both Wes Brown and Patrice Evra may need some defensive cover from Cristiano Ronaldo (should he start), Nani, or Ryan Giggs.

Sir Alex Ferguson though may favour a 4-3-3 like he did at Liverpool: with Anderson, Michael Carrick (who is now injured) and Paul Scholes occupying the central area and Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez flanked Dimitar Berbatov up top. Should the moxie Scot favour a similar formation away at Chelsea, then it will be Anderson who will be asked to stifle and snuff out any potential Blue threat.

Super Sunday

The media live for these fixtures and the marketing and advertising for such an affair is prepped as soon as the fixture list is annouced. They seldom live up to the hype, but after only four match-days into the new league, Chelsea can inflict a considerable amount of damage onto an already beaten dog and create an even bigger margin between themselves, and the team that claimed a fortunate scalp in May.

This one is goin 2 be intrestin
I aint goin 2 be by any team's side amma be neutral
anyway Man utd aint enjoyin a good start at all especially this week losin 2 Liverpool in Anfield n in CL a scoreless draw with Villareal n we can say Man utd was lucky 2 take the point even if the game was at Old Trafford and now they have 2 visit Chelsea , a team on great form ryt now n havin a very good start plus they r a team with a lot of Quality.

anyway the good news Man utd may enjoy in that game is that Ronaldo will be available after playin 2day some time against Villareal but still this one will be very tough n hard for United.

hey dudez i suggest to start a war zone here for the chelsea vs man utd game im not gonna copy and paste stuff from the website like u assholes do im just gonna say what i know and u guys could post any news u know by the way im with chelsea for 2 reasons : fuck manchester united 2 words that run in my veins , and Micheal KEASER Ballack
from what i watched chelsea enters the game with 10 points 3 wins and a draw aganist tottnham
man utd enter with bloddy 7 the assholes lost to liver_shit_pool this past saturday 2-1 at the annfeild road
the red fags haven't been havin a great season so far lost the super game aganist arshven and the gang zenit 2-1 and drawed aganist peris and villa real at their shitty stadium.
chelsea have been having a better run with the portguse football rushed into their veins through the half portuguse scolari and deco and bosinga
they are actually enjoying the news of the return of the KEASER and terry 3 match ban being lifted off ( total fair by the way so don't start fuckin around about the bla bla bla of its unfair kosa wel sho5a5 da )
man u actually are as well enjoyin the return of their little quer fag ronaldo to the feild (like its gonna make a diff ) the last 3 games betw. the 2 votes into the favor of a draw as man u won the first leg premire league game 2-0 ballack avenged the blues at stamford bridge 2-1 with the epl moment of the players lifting the pat lamperd RIP t-shirt man u stole away the CL ( ALRIGHT HOLD UR FUCKIN HORSES WON IT FAIR AND SQUARE BLA BLA BLA BLA) through penlty shoot out .
most likey missing the game : drogba and c.ronaldo won't start the game ( we all saw how shitty they performed at their 70' min sub ) carrick is also out for 6 weeks thanks God the only respectable player in the squad
the game is in stamford bridge by the way 21/09/08 4 pm