Chelsea v Man Utd preview

Ferdinand: Ruled out for United

PREDICTIONS

Skysports.com predictions: Chelsea 1 Man Utd 1

Sky Bet odds: Chelsea 1/1 Draw 9/4 Man Utd 3/1

One to watch: Didier Drogba

Match to finish 1-1 11/2 or Drogba to score a brace 8/1 Bet Now

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Chelsea go into their clash with title rivals Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Sunday in arguably their finest form of the season.

While the winner of the match will not determine the identity of the champions the result could go a long way to confirming that Carlo Ancelotti's men are the team to beat this term.

Chelsea have had to watch on as United have regained their strangle-hold on the Premier League over the last three years but under Ancelotti the Blues seem to have rediscovered their togetherness that was so evident under Jose Mourinho and revived under the short tenure of Guus Hiddink last season.

The former AC Milan boss has also got, to owner Roman Abrahovich's delight, the team playing attractive free flowing football with the defence, apart from occasional slip-ups at Wigan and Aston Villa, remaining as miserly as ever.

Chelsea have scored 15 goals from their five games at the Bridge, ten in their last three, and conceded just once, to Hull City's Stephen Hunt way back on the opening day of the season.

In contrast United have seemingly stuttered their way to second spot in the league standings and face the prospect of going five points behind their hosts at the weekend.

While Chelsea have brushed aside the likes of Blackburn, Bolton and Burnley this term United have struggled, finding it difficult to break down the so called lesser teams.

They will not have to worry about that on Sunday with Chelsea expected to come out and attack the champions and there lies another problem for the Red Devils.

With Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic struggling with knocks manager Sir Alex Ferguson may have to keep his faith in Wes Brown and Jonny Evans despite the duo looking shaky as United conceded three goals at home to CSKA Moscow at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.

Even with the first-choice pairing of Ferdinand and Vidic the champions have still only kept one clean-sheet in their past four league games, while the team's recent record against fellow top four sides will also give fans cause for concern.

Ferguson's men have only won two of their last eight games against the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, losing four, but before people start believing that Chelsea will run away with it this weekend it is worth remembering that United have a habit of delivering when their backs are against the wall.

Blues news

Nicolas Anelka is likely to return to the starting line-up after sitting on the bench for the 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday to spearhead the Blues' attack alongside Didier Drogba.

Portuguese midfielder Deco could also start in place of Joe Cole behind the strikers. The England international has impressed since returning from a long injury lay-off but seemed slightly off the pace in Madrid.

Defenders Ricardo Carvalho and Branislav Ivanovic were also on the bench at the Vicente Calderon and both will expect to come back into the starting XI at the expense of Alex and Juliano Belletti.

Red Devils news

The visitors will hope to welcome back Vidic (calf), Ryan Giggs (knee) and Dimitar Berbatov for the trip but Ferdinand (calf) has been ruled out with the same calf complaint that has troubled him over the past few weeks, with rumours suggesting the injury is linked to a long standing back problem which may require surgery.

Gary Neville will be replaced by John O'Shea at right-back with the 34-year-old suspended as a result of his red card against Barnsley in the Carling Cup.

Darren Fletcher is expected to start after returning against CSKA earlier this week despite admitting to needing pain killing injections to get him through games.

Park Ji-Sung returned to training this week after suffering from a knee problem but can expect a place on the bench at best, as United search for their first win at the Bridge in seven outings.

Probable starting XIs:

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Terry, Carvalho, Cole, Lampard, Essien, Ballack, Deco, Anelka, Drogba.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, O'Shea, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Valencia, Anderson, Fletcher, Giggs, Berbatov, Rooney.