Probably the least confident I've felt going to OT in my time as a Chelsea fan, not helped by the fact they've appointed that idiot Dowd as ref. We've got a big task here and I'm quite eager to see how we perform, I already see this as a must not lose game.

As of today, AVB has indicated that there is a possibility Drogba could play a part in this game and I think we need him because Anelka did okay on Saturday, but West Brown pretty much dominated him in the air, I feel we'll need a target man like Drogba will Sturridge/Anelka and Mata playing of him.

We'll wait and see how we do in the CL tie and touch wood we avoid injuries then we can assess the team, but barring injuries I'd like to see Lampard and Bosingwa dropped for this game, they will most certainly be targetted by SAF and we could be overrun in midfield, I'd be happier seeing Ivanovic RB with Mikel coming back into the central midfield role.

I know it seems harsh benching Sturridge, but I don't feel he is as effective on the right wing as Anelka could be and feel he may be better coming on from the bench with maybe Torres as well if we need to change things.

Cech

Ivanovic Alex Terry Cole

Ramires Meireles Lampard

Sturridge Torres Mata

Cech

Ivanovic Alex Terry Cole

Ramires Meireles Lampard

Sturridge Torres Mata

If Luiz is fit for this one I would like to see him partner JT. Alex may have saved us last time around but with Young, Nani, Rooney and Chicharito I believe we could be caught out for pace if those two started as CB. Irrespective of how good Bosingwa has been it makes sense to go with Ivanovic at RB.

I am split on this one- although I would say Ivanovic is the better overall defender Bosingwa could be more suited to trying to combat the pace that they will have on the left with Young. He loves to get the ball to his feet and try and stretch defenders all over the park whilst they are on the counter moving the ball from one end of the pitch to the other very quickly indeed, a back 3 involving Alex, Ivanovic & Terry might not handle this as well as maybe Terry, Luiz & Bosingwa. As noted previously I know Luiz had a shocker at OT last season but he was also the reason we beat them at the Bridge so there are positives there, hopefully he will play tonight so we can see how he looks in terms of sharpness/fitness.

In midfied I think Mikel might be worthwhile having in this game, Ramires & Meireles either side. This obvioulsy means dropping Lampard, and in effect trying a new midfield 3 who have not played together which is not ideal but a midfield involving Mikel and Lampard I just feel will be too slow to compete with Uniteds (although they might be playing Carrick now with Cleverleys injury so there is hope in that department).

Up front, for me, would be Mata on the left, Sturridge on the right with Drogba, if fit, in the middle.

Should Torres play tonight with Mata & Sturidge and look like scoring or even dare I say score I would consider playing that front 3 but as it stands with the ongoing Torres situation I just think a starting place at OT is too risky, you can't have passengers for this game and unless he gets something tonight that could act as a catylist to spark a bit of form I don't see anything changing on Sunday (see Torres at OT last season for reference).

As said in the original post by Myles, very nervous about this one. Would take a draw right now but will always keep the faith.

Up the Chels!

If Luiz is fit for this one I would like to see him partner JT. Alex may have saved us last time around but with Young, Nani, Rooney and Chicharito I believe we could be caught out for pace if those two started as CB. Irrespective of how good Bosingwa has been it makes sense to go with Ivanovic at RB.

I agree but given Luiz hasn't had any game time so far this season I was thinking he might not get picked straightaway for such a big game. I omitted Bossy because I think he would struggle against Young, Rooney, Hernandez and Nani.

Such a tricky one, it's going to be interesting to see how we cope with their forwards fantastic movement and frightening pace - just hope we can!

Probably the least confident I've felt going to OT in my time as a Chelsea fan

By the way, +1 to this, I've only been a Chelsea fan since 94 but even the days when we were merely average, we somehow always put up a great performance against United. I hope that can be the case this season too but I've watched them in every game so far and honestly it's frightening how well they're playing right now.

This is going to be a huge reality check.........................................................................for United.

Meireles in the defensive role is not for this one for me. For one, its not his strongest suit and he does tend to make rash challenges. Mikel on the other hand has shown that he can be relied upon to do a bad job of tracking Rooney, but we don't really have another option.

I'd like to see Ivan at right back, but I feel almost certain Boas will stick with Bos.

Too early to predict line-ups (heres hoping Torres puts himself in the frame and maybe Drogba's back fit) but as of right now..

-------------------

Cech

--

Bos

----

Ivan

--

JT

--

Cole

----------------

Mikel

------

Ramires

-

--

Lamps

-

Sturridge

---------

-----

Mata

---------------

Anelka

Although I am worried about Sturridge on the right and how much help he'll give Bosingwa,

Edited September 13, 201114 yr by footballoholic

aaargh this match is on my birthday!!!

I honestly dont think any Chelsea fan would be too disappointed with a draw in this one. I'd take it right now.

3-0 to the Chelsea

Meireles in the defensive role is not for this one for me. For one, its not his strongest suit and he does tend to make rash challenges. Mikel on the other hand has shown that he can be relied upon to do a bad job of tracking Rooney, but we don't really have another option.

I'd like to see Ivan at right back, but I feel almost certain Boas will stick with Bos.

Too early to predict line-ups (heres hoping Torres puts himself in the frame and maybe Drogba's back fit) but as of right now..

-------------------

Cech

--

Bos

----

Ivan

--

JT

--

Cole

----------------

Mikel

------

Ramires

-

--

Lamps

-

Sturridge

---------

-----

Mata

---------------

Anelka

Although I am worried about Sturridge on the right and how much help he'll give Bosingwa,

this worries me too....Danny just doesn't do real cover......maybe this is the time for 4231 and hit them on the break just like they like to play....would be happy with a point.....

Lets go gung ho on them. They surely wont be expecting that and their young defense might find it too much to handle pegging the whole team back a bit.

We'll learn a little more about the manager during this match.

We are relying on our fullbacks to push on and that will leave space in behind for Young and Nani. That will mean Ivan and JT getting pulled wide where they could struggle for pace.

Hernandez and Rooney will hassle us at the back when we have possession.

In the recent past SAF has played Park who is like the duracell bunny and has caused us all sorts of problems.

On the other hand, if Utd do play 2 up with 2 wide then we should be much stronger in the middle of the park and ought to be able to dominate possession.

Our fullbacks need to make sure that Young and Nani spend more time defending than attacking.

Last season Ancelotti made a pigs ear of his tactics in the CL and PL matches at the end of the season. Will AVB be any smarter? We'll see.

AVB has just ruled Drogba out, so I suspect will go with Torres or Anelka up front, maybe even Kalou might get a look in.

Kalou should get no where near our line-up on Sunday. I'd go with a front three of Sturridge, Mata and Anelka, Anelka seems to be playing really well the last couple of games. Stick him down the middle, and let Studge and Mata loose on the wings and see what happens. The pace of that front three is electric. The midfield is a bit of a tricky one, I wouldn't have Lampard starting, midfield three of Mikel, Meireles and Ramires would be my preferred option. But, I wouldn't be adverse to a Meireles, Ramires and Lampard trio and bring Mikel on to add a bit of defensive security when we're 2-1 up. I'd like to see Luiz start, Bosingwa should be nowhere near the right back position with Young in the form of his life. Stick Ivan out there, Luiz and JT in the middle, Ashley on the left. I highly doubt we'll do that as Bosingwa gives good width for us going forward, but defensively we'll be in trouble I fear. We'll see. I have confidence that AVB knows how we should play against Man U.

With a bit of luck, Park Ji Sung might suffer a slight tweak tomorrow that puts him out of the game on Sunday, he always plays superbly well against us, depressingly. It'd be interesting to see what formation Red Nose plays though, he always plays defensively with a packed midfield and just counter attack all game, but I don't think he'll do that with Nani, Young and Rooney playing as well as they are.

It's going to be a tense one, I can tell you that.

Since being hauled off against WBA Kalou hasn't seen the pitch.

So we finally have a manager who has attempted to address the need for width, is trying to introduce a higher tempo to our game, and also seems to have quickly realized that Kalou isn't good enough to be anything but third choice here.

Good signs.

Ramires will start, and I am betting Lampard and Terry will both start as well. I suspect it will be the Sunderland team with Mikel replacing Miereles and Anelka contending to replace either Sturridge or Torres in the starting 11.

Luiz will be a candidate to replace Ivan but Ivan and Terry although lacking a little pace are developing OK. Bossy and Ash have the pace to keep up with young and Nani.

As we all know the key is slowing Rooney's distribution down. If we can make him pass sideways or back we will be half way there.

I would take a draw, however I'm not sure its on offer.

The question in my mind is whether our defence will be up to the job and part of the answer will be found in midfield. If we are playing our pressing game it will have to be well played from the moment they get the ball. Slowing them down will do a lot to help.

If they play Evans in the central defence then they will have certain vulnerability. He does make mistakes. Also its pretty obvious Ferdinand is fairly injury prone at the moment.

I would be shocked if Kalou get a start. Anelka never really performed in big matches to us, and he generally slow plays down, not sure if he's the man for a match at OT. We may as well give Torres a confidence boost by starting him, otherwise we could go Malouda, Sturridge and Mata as front 3, what's the chance of a shock start for Lukaku? First real test for both teams, no reason we can't win it if we play to our true abilities.

The one thing in contrast to last season is the manager has some serious selection headaches and from what we've seen so far reputation means nothing to AVB.

Aw cmon now lads, you must have faith! we are unbeaten aint we so far in all comps. Who says we cant go upto ot and get a result, of course we can. Manure are playing well but we are still winning. My brother is a manure fan and we bet 20 quid everytime the teams meet and believe it or not i think we are about even ( been betting now for 8 years). Before last season i think i was 40 quid up lol. I think Luiz will start as he did ok tonight vs Bayer 04, also we need pace Bosingwa to run at them, Ashley down the other wing behing Mata who is a star. I dont think Torres will start, maybe he wont even play anytime in the 90 mins. Anyways cmon the mighty blues! Jus hope the drog is fit and will terrorize Vidic with his strength.

Match prediction (if i dare!)

Manure 1 Chelsea 1 or 2 lol.

Dont forget its manures toughest game also this year so far. If we can keep rooney quiet we can win!

I dont rate their keeper neither.

Edited September 14, 201114 yr by chelseablue1970

cech

Iva-luiz-terry-cole

meirel

ramir----lamps

stur--torres--mata

I think our central midfield was at its best in the first half against sunderland, mikel played better today in cl then his previous 3 games, but I think this trio would be better if we are to do counterattacks. I rather have a bit more defensive back like ivanovich against young/nani, wich is uniteds biggest attacking threat. Hopefully we can keep our calm in our build up play, united have been very good with their pressure in their opponents half, but I question their defenders and goalkeeper. I would be delighted with 3 points in this game, but 1 point is also good at old trafford.

Very tough selection, but I think we may just go with a 4-2-3-1, try and shore them up and hit them on the counter. I do think that we need to have Ivan at RB to take on either Young or Nani

.................Cech

Ivan.....Luiz......Terry....Cole

........Mereiles....Mikel

................Lampard

..Sturridge............Mata

..................Torres

However, I'd be amazed if we saw this...I think it would be a great team and show some real intent.

..............Cech

Ivan,....Luiz...Terry...Cole

........Mikel...Mereiles

...............Mata

..Nico................Sturridge

...............Torres