Carlo Ancelotti was out-thought the last time these two played in the Champions League and as a result his side were outplayed. The Italian will have to get his tactics and team-sheet right this time for them to have any chance, says Michael Cox.
Sunday's game at Old Trafford is the biggest of the Premier League season. Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea side effectively won the league there last season with a 2-1 victory. Can they repeat the trick?
Ancelotti got his tactics spot on in this fixture last year. His 4-3-3 formation was working well in the second half of the season, but the Italian felt he couldn't justify playing both Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka in the same side for such a difficult away game. Therefore, despite Drogba being the Premier League's top scorer, he omitted the Ivorian and fielded Anelka up top alone, supported by Joe Cole and Florent Malouda from the flanks.
There's more to this than pure historical interest, however - if Ancelotti was happy to drop one of his star strikers last season in order to play a more fluid system, there's every chance he'll do the same again here. After an experiment with a 4-4-2 that worked reasonably well against poor sides, but fell down against United at home in the Champions League, Ancelotti has moved back to 4-3-3. His use of Drogba in a right-sided role, with Fernando Torres upfront, didn't work particularly well against Spurs last weekend, despite Chelsea's rather fortunate victory.
It wouldn't be a surprise to see Torres left out of this game, then, if Ancelotti is thinking along the same lines. Ironically, this time around the decision could mean that Drogba does start, in his preferred position of centre-forward. This would leave a decision about who to start on the right - Anelka is in contention, but Saloman Kalou, who scored the winner last weekend, is certainly in the frame too.
Sir Alex Ferguson seems to have settled upon 4-4-1-1 as his first-choice formation - even against big sides - with Wayne Rooney playing just behind Javier Hernandez. His key decisions will be on the flanks. He likes to field a strong defensive player up against Ashley Cole - this could be Park Ji-Sung or Antonio Valencia - whilst on the left he has more freedom with Branislav Ivanovic not as good on the ball, meaning Nani could start on the left. Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick are favourites for the centre of midfield.
The key battle looks likely to be John Obi Mikel up against Wayne Rooney. Chelsea were particularly vulnerable to Rooney dropping between the lines in the Champions League fixture at Stamford Bridge, but that was basically a problem with the 4-4-2 they were using - Michael Essien is plainly not a holding player. Mikel's return to the side for the past five league games has seen Chelsea take the maximum 15 points, and his job here will be to get goal-side of Rooney and prevent United playing through their number ten.
Equally, the contest will be important the other way - Ferguson will be wary of being outnumbered in the centre of midfield, so will instruct Rooney to drop into midfield without the ball, and pick up Mikel to prevent his distribution from deep. This could lead to something of a stalemate early on - but then that would suit Ferguson, who would be happy with a 0-0. Under 2.5 goals at [1.83] looks good value.
Continued: Soccer Betting
Sunday's game at Old Trafford is the biggest of the Premier League season. Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea side effectively won the league there last season with a 2-1 victory. Can they repeat the trick?
Ancelotti got his tactics spot on in this fixture last year. His 4-3-3 formation was working well in the second half of the season, but the Italian felt he couldn't justify playing both Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka in the same side for such a difficult away game. Therefore, despite Drogba being the Premier League's top scorer, he omitted the Ivorian and fielded Anelka up top alone, supported by Joe Cole and Florent Malouda from the flanks.
There's more to this than pure historical interest, however - if Ancelotti was happy to drop one of his star strikers last season in order to play a more fluid system, there's every chance he'll do the same again here. After an experiment with a 4-4-2 that worked reasonably well against poor sides, but fell down against United at home in the Champions League, Ancelotti has moved back to 4-3-3. His use of Drogba in a right-sided role, with Fernando Torres upfront, didn't work particularly well against Spurs last weekend, despite Chelsea's rather fortunate victory.
It wouldn't be a surprise to see Torres left out of this game, then, if Ancelotti is thinking along the same lines. Ironically, this time around the decision could mean that Drogba does start, in his preferred position of centre-forward. This would leave a decision about who to start on the right - Anelka is in contention, but Saloman Kalou, who scored the winner last weekend, is certainly in the frame too.
Sir Alex Ferguson seems to have settled upon 4-4-1-1 as his first-choice formation - even against big sides - with Wayne Rooney playing just behind Javier Hernandez. His key decisions will be on the flanks. He likes to field a strong defensive player up against Ashley Cole - this could be Park Ji-Sung or Antonio Valencia - whilst on the left he has more freedom with Branislav Ivanovic not as good on the ball, meaning Nani could start on the left. Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick are favourites for the centre of midfield.
The key battle looks likely to be John Obi Mikel up against Wayne Rooney. Chelsea were particularly vulnerable to Rooney dropping between the lines in the Champions League fixture at Stamford Bridge, but that was basically a problem with the 4-4-2 they were using - Michael Essien is plainly not a holding player. Mikel's return to the side for the past five league games has seen Chelsea take the maximum 15 points, and his job here will be to get goal-side of Rooney and prevent United playing through their number ten.
Equally, the contest will be important the other way - Ferguson will be wary of being outnumbered in the centre of midfield, so will instruct Rooney to drop into midfield without the ball, and pick up Mikel to prevent his distribution from deep. This could lead to something of a stalemate early on - but then that would suit Ferguson, who would be happy with a 0-0. Under 2.5 goals at [1.83] looks good value.
Continued: Soccer Betting
