Match Preview: Manchester United v Chelsea

Old Trafford, Manchester

Monday 26th August 2013 – KO 8:00pm Live on Super Sports 3

Referee: Martin Atkinson, Assistants: P Kirkup, S Long, Fourth Official: M Dean

Manchester United play their first match of the new Barclays Premier League season at Old Trafford tonight against Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea side. The Portuguese Special One is no stranger to Old Trafford and was last here with his Real Madrid side back in March, again the victor. United were dealt with a tough few opening matches this season facing Swansea away last weekend which resulted in a 4-1 victory with Robin van Persie and Danny Welbeck both scoring braces.

Next up is Chelsea before another away trip, this time to Anfield to face Liverpool, which is another big match, especially as Liverpool fans are getting excited that they are joint top at the moment, which makes me smile and cringe both at the same time. I don’t think the Chelsea match will be easy, it seems that the majority of matches will be tough this season, especially Cardiff City away, who beat Manchester City today 3-2, making their home a fortress, but time will tell what happens there.

David Moyes has confirmed that Rafael da Silva will miss the match and looks set to be out for three to four weeks. Nani, Ashley Young and Javier Hernandez are still on the sidelines and are doubts for the match also. Darren Fletcher is also still out of action and looks set to be out for the immediate future with no date pencilled in for his return. Chelsea could be without David Luiz who is overcoming a hamstring injury and Tomáš Kalas is out with a broken leg.

What the boss says:

“I really like Jose, he’s had great success and I’ve not seen him for a long time so I’m looking forward to seeing him. 

“I came (to United) for this sort of level of game, but I came to win trophies. If you are going to win trophies then you are going to have to beat teams like Chelsea and Manchester City because that’s the way our league is.

“I’m looking forward to it. It’s one of 38 league games we’ve got this season and it’s a great first home game.”

Players to watch:

Wayne Rooney: The England striker has been linked with a move away from United all summer, with Chelsea being his reported destination. Moyes has suggested he could start Rooney, or that he will play in the match, which would be like making a statement of intent. If Rooney scores it would make the Old Trafford crowd happy, but it will be his celebration that everyone will be looking for. That will be the one thing that tell us about his future. The is no doubt Rooney is one of the best players we have, losing him will create a dilemma for Moyes.

Juan Mata: Last season Mata scored 20 goals for Chelsea in all competitions, assisted in a further 28 goals, which in my book would make him the clubs best player. He has also been recently linked with an exit from the club, which has been denied by Mourinho himself. If Chelsea were to sign Rooney, asking for Mata as part of the deal is something Moyes should do. Mata is capable of scoring plenty more goals and with him being played just behind a striker, puts him in a great position to assist and score himself.

Predicted Formation/Starting XI:

Score Prediction:

Manchester United 2 – 1 Chelsea