Lets not beat about the bush - if we finish above Utd we will win the league and if they finish above us they will win the league.

We are at home, we are in very good form 9especially at home) and they have injury problems to contend with. This is a great opportunity for us to create a little gap between us and them.

Key will be who they play at the back and how any one of the deals with Drogba. Ferdinand , if fit, is woefully out of form. Vidic is also struggling to deal with strong and quick centre forwards and Evans looks a shadow of the player he was last season due to the fact the players around him are not performing to their usual standard.

I would prefer to see the pace of Carvalho ahead of the strength of Alex at the back and also like to see Joe play ahead of Deco despite the fact Deco has been in very good form.

Alex alongside J.T. Ashley at LB , Paulo at RB if Boss still injured.

Drogs is on fire right now and i think Rio would prefer to be playing somebody else right now.

Were in a much better position than we were this time last season, playing better, better organised , scoring , everybody fit and confidence high.

I know this will sound redundant, but we have to play our strongest side possible. Despite Rio's lack of form, I still rate Vidic and Evra highly. I'm also sure Evra will have something to prove to the groundsmen, and I'm sure SAF will have a word with his players to get them fired up for this game. He'll make them realise that we are the biggest threat to their Premiership ambitions, and to lose to us would not be acceptable.

Rooney is always a threat, and the last time we played them at the bridge under Scolari, it was a dreadful display...again mainly from set pieces,so we'd better be training on corners and free kicks tirelessly this week.

If the RB position for us is still in question due to Bosingwa being injured, I think we'll see Ivan out there. Other than that I think it'll be JT and Percy in the center, with Cole at LB.

Middle will be Essien, Joe, Lamaprd, Ballack, and finally it will be Anelka and Drogba up front.

I just hope we can use the strength in our midfield to good effect, but I'm sure SAF will also try to exploit our narrow midfield. Think they could go for a 4-3-3 with Carrick, Anderson, and Fletcher in the middle, and Valencia and Rooney out wider from Berbatov.

No draws , no controversies required . Lets mince them up , create a nice little gap which gives us some breathing space for the fixtures ahead .

On current form , odds definitely in our favour but such games are different . Time to step up and make our intentions clear .

I think this is going to be the biggest and most important game of the season so far. Forget last night, scoring 17 in 4 raised everyone's expectations but scoring 4 for the 5th game in a row would have been kind of unreal. If we win there'll be a nice little gap, but if we lose we're back in second place and the boost to their confidence will be massive. We simply HAVE to win.

Belletti, I thought, was awful yesterday. Ivanovic should play at RB over Paulo, especially seen as how well he played up at Bolton. Hope Alex stays alongside JT, last season they were immense together. A revert back to the diamond, with Ballack getting his place back. I think Joey would really be up for this game, so I think he'll start. Drogs and Nico up top.

---------------Cech

---Ivan---Alex---Terry---A.Cole

--------------Essien

------Ballack---------Lampard

------------Joey Cole

------Drogba---------Anelka

Subs: Hilario, Belletti, Carvalho, Malouda, Deco, Kalou, Sturridge.

We haven't conceded a goal at home for 13 hours now, thats a pretty spectacular record and here's hoping we can keep it going. As for formation im with ruh buh juh. I think United will play 4-5-1 and try crowd the midfield

Think that this will be our line up

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

Ivan.........Parcy....Terry.......ACole

..................Essien

............Ballack......Lampard

..................J Cole

..............Anelka.....Drogba

Hilario, Kalou, Belletti, Deco, Paulo, Sturridge, Malouda

think they will line up

....................VDS

Neville......Rio...Vidic.....Evra

................Carrik

...........Anderson..Fletcher

..Valencia.

............................Rooney

.................berbatov

Belletti, I thought, was awful yesterday. Ivanovic should play at RB over Paulo, especially seen as how well he played up at Bolton. Hope Alex stays alongside JT, last season they were immense together. A revert back to the diamond, with Ballack getting his place back. I think Joey would really be up for this game, so I think he'll start. Drogs and Nico up top.

---------------Cech

---Ivan---Alex---Terry---A.Cole

--------------Essien

------Ballack---------Lampard

------------Joey Cole

------Drogba---------Anelka

Subs: Hilario, Belletti, Carvalho, Malouda, Deco, Kalou, Sturridge.

I think RBJ has it spot on except for one thing. I would probably go with Deco at the tip of the diamond over Joey. Deco has been in good form as of late and I think his passing is a still little more crisp. I'm also not convinced that Joey is 100% (I want to be wrong here, I really do). If Deco seems flat or frustrated, change him out for Joey in the 50th - 55th minute. That still gives the lads the ability to get it together with Joey in there.

I believe this is a must win. A victory here tells the league that we're not messing around this year. It also would give us a nice cushion for any slip-ups that could happen later on.

think they will line up

....................VDS

Neville......Rio...Vidic.....Evra

................Carrik

...........Anderson..Fletcher

..Valencia.

............................Rooney

.................berbatov

Neville is suspended for this after his red card in the carling up match, i think they will be like this:

------------Edwin

--O'shea--Evans--Vidic--Evra

------------Fletcher

------Carrick-----Anderson

-Valencia----------------Giggs

----------Rooney

They tried 442 against liverpool and it backfired hugely, whilst it may work against weaker teams i don't think fergie will use it against us

cheers Sals, fogot about Neville's red! Also, doesn't SAF usually play Carrick in a deeper role?

With Bosingwa out I have serious concerns about playing Ivanovic in a RB position. He is a strong solid defender but he lacks speed and turns like a tank. One thing ManU are not short of is speedy tricky wingers that can easily exploit these weaknesses.

With Bosingwa out I have serious concerns about playing Ivanovic in a RB position. He is a strong solid defender but he lacks speed and turns like a tank. One thing ManU are not short of is speedy tricky wingers that can easily exploit these weaknesses.

My thoughts exactly. United tend to expoit slower full backs, evra with speed and valencia with accurate crosses. Everytime I saw them play this season they've been putting in dangerous balls in the box (which, I think, we don't do as often as we should...) and if we can't defend those then we're in trouble. Paulo is prone to the odd mistake, Ivanovic is solid but a bit slow. If we play him I think he will play a purely defensive role (i.e he won't attack much)

I can see Ancelotti going for Belletti (I really hope not though, judging from his mid week perfromance)

I would LOVE to see Nani on the field though :D

why cant this match be on saturday ... i hate all the waiting. :D

anyways that would be my line up

-----------------cech--------------------

----ivan---carvahlo--JT---------ashley--

-----------------essien-----------------

-----------lampard--ballack-----------

-----------------joe cole---------------

----------anelka----drogba-----------

I really thought about putting Deco at the top of the diamond but then I thought about the fact that Joe always did very well against ManU so I decided for him, and I decided for Carvahlo because I think he is faster then Alex which is good against Rooney. I think Alex would have a lot of problems with him because Ivan isnt actually very fast aswell. anyways im optimistic ... 2-0 for Chelsea

Edited November 5, 200916 yr by german-blue

Is Bosingwa still injured??

With Bosingwa out I have serious concerns about playing Ivanovic in a RB position. He is a strong solid defender but he lacks speed and turns like a tank. One thing ManU are not short of is speedy tricky wingers that can easily exploit these weaknesses.

Agreed. I think Ivanovic played at RB in the Community Shield, and for the first 20 minutes he was murdered by Nani of all people.

Massive fixture and i think whoever wins it will be classed as title favourites and i am more than confident it will be us grabbing all 3 points, Drogba and Anelka will run rings round the Man Utd defence !

Here's a Daily Heil feature on past CFC-Manure clashes.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/...Reds-Blues.html

Some good, some horrible memories on there, but I was tempted to kick the screen in when I read this stuff at the start:

It's jolly hard to sum up Chelsea as a club at times. I think it's fair to say that most people would have preferred them before the club was flooded with money, and there can be no doubt that spiritually they have no place at the European top table with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, United and Liverpool. That's probably what has angered the Merseyside giants so much in their barren years, why they sing of Chelsea having 'no history'.

.....

It has to be said that Chelsea weren't a club completely without foundation and substance before 2004, as some seem to suggest. Yes, their crowds were often woeful in the 1980s and it was never a surprise to see them relegated to the second tier - but that isn't the whole story.

In the 1970s they had more than a touch of glamour and some exciting sides. In the late 1990s and into this new century they actually picked up a string of pots, including a European Cup Winners Cup success.

The news is that Rio's out for a couple of months (barring a huge Fergie smokescreen, which isn't unheard of). He may not be in form but he still marshalls his defence well and they're sure to miss his leadership.

I'd only play Joey if he's 100% fit and he didn't look it last time out. I also think Alex seems to have gained a yard of pace, although the laws of physics dictate that he's never going to turn as quickly as Riccy. Neither will let us down.

Please can someone accidentally lock Kalou on the team coach? I'd have Sturridge over him every time, just for his potential to do the unexpected. He's a far more intelligent player, too. He actually gets his head up and is aware of those around him. Kalou's gaze is drawn only to the ball, like mine is to an impressive cleavage!

Is Bosingwa still injured??

Apparently, with the discussion of a possible surgery putting him out a further 3-4 weeks if he undergoes it.

Lets not beat about the bush - if we finish above Utd we will win the league and if they finish above us they will win the league.

Still can't believe people are writing off Arsenal. I think both we and the Gooners will finish above Utd this season - just hope it's us in the top spot.

My team would be:

-----------------cech--------------------

----ivan---carvahlo--JT---------ashley--

-----------------essien-----------------

-----------lampard--ballack-----------

-----------------joe cole---------------

----------anelka----drogba-----------

Bench: Hilario, Alex, Deco, Sturridge, Malouda, Paulo & Belletti

Still can't believe people are writing off Arsenal. I think both we and the Gooners will finish above Utd this season - just hope it's us in the top spot.

My team would be:

-----------------cech--------------------

----ivan---carvahlo--JT---------ashley--

-----------------essien-----------------

-----------lampard--ballack-----------

-----------------joe cole---------------

----------anelka----drogba-----------

Bench: Hilario, Alex, Deco, Sturridge, Malouda, Paulo & Belletti

Find myself agreeing with this and although I have always grudgingly admired some of the football Arsenal have played I have always believed they had enough weaknesses to undo any realistic title challenge and thought they would need another season or two to get the group of players they have challenging in anything other than knock out competitions,

I have watched quite a few of their games this season and have to say they are looking our biggest threat at the moment, they can still throw away games but not so much by the overplaying that has cost them before as by switching off as in the 2-2 Draw with the Pikey's.

I prefer looking on them as a threat than the Scousers so I'm not too bothered but I wouldn't have imagined it before the season started.

Kalou's gaze is drawn only to the ball, like mine is to an impressive cleavage!

:D :D

Still can't believe people are writing off Arsenal.

I'm not. They are getting the results and playing some nice football at the same time. It remains to be seen how long they can keep it up, but at the moment they definitely look like one of the teams that could win the title this season.

The thing is, they always do this, but then come the business end of the season end up fading into fourth spot, so for me they still have to prove they have the stamina to sustain this form before i'll consider them title challengers. They're certainly more of a threat than the Dippers though, that's for sure.