Chelsea vs. Manchester United: Capital One Cup Preview

After facing each other in the Barclays Premier League on Sunday, the two giants clash again in the fourth round of the Capital One Cup. Manchester United won 3-2 on Sunday at the Bridge, which turned out to be a controversial game that saw Ivanovic and Torres getting sent off in the second half, making them ineligible for Today’s match.

                Chelsea were down to nine men, when Hernandez found the Net as he scored the winner at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea will be looking forward to take their revenge and qualify for the next round.

TEAM FORM:

Before the loss on Sunday, Chelsea also lost their Champions league fixture to Shakhtar Donetsk last Tuesday as well. While United on the other hand were the only English Club to win the Champions League fixture last week.

                In the third round of Capital One Cup, the Blues crushed Wolves 6-0 at home, while the Red Devils defeated Newcastle United 2-1 at Old Trafford.

TEAM NEWS:

            Chelsea will be without suspended players Torres and Ivanovic as both of them were sent off on Sunday. John Terry is also out with his suspension and midfielder Frank Lampard is out with a Calf Injury.

                Manchester United have no suspended Players but they still have Players that are injured and are unavailable for the game. Nemanja Vidic, Phil Jones and Shinji Kagawa are not available for the Wednesday’s clash.

PROBABLE LINEUPS:

                As Capital One Cup is a smaller competition, both the managers will get a chance to rest their star players and give chance to the younger players. Chelsea play Swansea away from home on Saturday in the Premiership, while United host Arsenal the same day.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Turnbull; Ferreira, Luiz, Cahill, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Romeu; Moses, Marin, Bertrand; Sturridge.

Manchester United (4-4-2): De Gea; Rafael, Evans, Wootton, Buttner; Nani, Fletcher, Anderson, Giggs; Welbeck Hernandez.

PREDICTION:

Chelsea 0-2 Manchester United.

                After ending their decade long win less run at Bridge, United will start the better side on Wednesday. Giggs will be a huge impact for the Reds as he was rested for the game against Chelsea. United starting XI will seal the game before the Chelsea bench can make a late impact.

MAN TO WATCH: Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez

Overdue Win Delights Carrick

Having seen a string of impressive performances go unrewarded at Stamford Bridge in recent seasons, Michael Carrick feels United's thrilling victory at Chelsea was long overdue.

Carrick: "It's a huge three points, Not winning here for a long time against our biggest rivals, we wanted to put that right and we wanted to win for that.

"Plus the fact that if we had lost today we would've been well adrift. I know there's a long way to go, but it wouldn't have been a good position for us to be in. So for those two reasons it was a big result.

"Over the last three or four years we've had some really great performances here and not come away with what we deserved, so today it was sweet to get the three points.

"We've really played some great stuff and the performances have been spot on, so to come away with no wins has been disappointing and we felt the next win was close. We have had some decisions not go our way and it's been tough for us here, but maybe that turned around for us today. We'll take what we get!"

"Especially against your rivals – the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea, Arsenal next week – it's important you take points off them," said the midfielder.

"That's why it was important and next week is just as important. It's a good start to the season. We've obviously had a couple of defeats but we've bounced back and we're still in a good position, so we can be happy."

Fergie Gets Hairdryer From Margaret, 80

 An 80-year-old gran from Rochdale has forced Alex Ferguson to rethink his tactics. The Manchester United manager will scrap his diamond formation at Chelsea after she rang the club

Fergie said: “I’d better not upset her. Did
you hear her on MUTV? She’s 80, phoned up and said ‘I’m fed up watching this diamond’.

“She said ‘Tell that manager to stop playing that diamond’. So I better not play it.”

Lifelong United fan Margaret rang the club’s in-house TV channel to brand Fergie’s latest formation “stupid”.
 

She pleaded: “Please don’t play the diamond at Chelsea. If you want me to have a word with the manager, I will.
“I’ve supported United longer than he has!”

 

 Margaret rang in to the station’s Thursday Focus show and spoke with former players David May and Quinton Fortune.
 

 During the hilarious call she said: “Have you not noticed all the goals you’re giving away when you’re playing that stupid diamond position? We have to go back to playing normally and catch up.

“It isn’t entertaining when you’re 80 years old to watch goals going in from the other side.

“I don’t like it. It’s going to give me a heart attack and I’m 80.

“You wouldn’t like to give me a heart attack.

“I have an opinion and it’s certainly not the diamond. They don’t know what to do — they run around like lost sheep.”

Margaret was also not happy about the early goals going in against United at the moment.

 

She added: “I’m telling you how long I’ve been watching United — I’ve seen every good player you’ve ever had. And they weren’t that stupid, and giving goals away, at the beginning.”

Giggs: Diamonds Not Forever

Ryan Giggs insists width will always be important at Manchester United, despite the manager’s recent decision to employ a diamond formation in games against Newcastle United, CFR Cluj and SC Braga.

Giggs: “I think it’s important to have flexibility,”“In the game against Newcastle at St James’ Park, that first 20 minutes was probably the best football we’ve played all season. That was with the diamond.

“With Antonio missing the game and Ashley Young injured we were short of width a little bit. So the diamond made sense and it means we have that flexibility now.

“Wayne can drop deeper, Shinji Kagawa can play in the majority of midfield positions, Tom Cleverley can play behind the strikers... we have the sort of personnel where we can chop and change and play different systems.

“Maybe we’ll need to use it in some big games – you might see it in Europe – but United, more often than not, will play with wingers.”

“That’s probably the biggest disappointment from this year, the number of times we’ve gone behind,” Giggs said of the eight games in which the Reds have conceded first this season.

“On the plus side, though, we’ve managed to come back in the majority of those games and win them.

“Obviously we can’t go throughout the season like we have been doing. But we know that if we get clean sheets and we start getting zeros against our name then we’ll create chances at the other end and win more games than we lose.”

“I’m in good shape,” he said. “I was at the Olympics so I missed the majority of the pre-season training we do.

“That meant I was perhaps a little bit behind in relation to other players – I’d played more games rather than trained.

“But I’ve managed to get that back in order over the last few weeks, working with the coaches. I feel good at the moment.”

Shelvey: I met Man Utd boss Ferguson in Anfield carpark

 Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey knows he's a hero to Reds fans thanks to his touchline spat with Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson earlier this season.

Shelvey revealed: “I still stand by my decision that I wasn’t going to pull out of a tackle. If I’d done that against United I’d have hurt myself and the fans would have gone mental. But that walk felt like a mile.

“I saw Ferguson in the fourth official’s ear so I said to him, ‘it’s your fault I got sent off,’ but I pulled him aside afterwards and apologized because I knew I was in the wrong. I was walking back down the tunnel towards the car park and he was walking towards me. I apologized for what I had done and said ‘it was wrong and I was frustrated’. I’m a young boy and I think the emotions got the better of me.

“I said I still wouldn’t have pulled out of the tackle if it was there, and he said ‘it’s fine. It takes a man to apologize, no hard feelings. It’s an emotional game, don’t worry about it’. It is a learning curve for me and, to be honest, I am glad it happened. It is something I will be more wary of in the future.”

 

His spat with Fergie ironically helped break the ice after Shelvey’s shock England call recently.

He added: “I’d quickly gone from playing in a park with my mates to sitting next to Wayne Rooney at dinner, so I was a bit nervous going in there with England. I didn’t know what to expect and thought no one would talk to me. It was a bit weird but Danny Welbeck pulled me when I arrived and said ‘leave my manager alone’. That helped break the ice.

Scholes Up For Huge Week

Paul Scholes is relishing a huge week for Manchester United, with the Reds aiming to close the gap on Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea on Sunday.

Scholes: "We've got three massive games really in a week, Obviously Chelsea twice and then Arsenal at home. Sunday is a big one. We've not got a brilliant record at Chelsea over the last few years and it's something we hope we can change.

 

We watched them against Tottenham last week. They've signed a different type of player to a couple of years back when you were looking at a big, powerful team. Now they've signed smaller, better footballers who are difficult to play against. We know each of them is capable of creating chances and scoring goals themselves.

They're a good team to play against because they like to play football and you always get a fair share of the ball there and a fair share of the chances. There's always a good atmosphere and we want to change the results we've had over the years there.

I'm just thankful we've got the attacking players that can score more goals than the opposition at the minute. I'm sure it will change. It's just the start of the season and it's only early so there is plenty of time to put it right."

CHELSEA vs MANCHESTER UNITED Match Preview 28/10/12

Venue             : Stamford Bridge 

Kick Off        : 16:00 BST

Date                : 28th Oct 2012

 

After amazing win against Tottenham and Norwich in which Chelsea scored 4 in each game, they now host 19-time EPL champions Manchester United on Sunday which will be the biggest match so far. Manchester United are four points behind the Blues as they have lost two out of the eight matches.

Though Di Matteo’s side are unbeaten in the league, but they faced their first defeat at Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday in defense of the Champions League Trophy. On the other hand, Fergie’s side has been poor in the defense this season, but with Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney in the attack, it will be difficult for Chelsea to defend without their suspended captain John Terry.

 

Team News:

 

Chelsea                - Frank Lampard(injured), John Terry(suspended).

Man-United       - Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Shinji Kagawa, Nemanja Vidic(injured).

            With Terry suspended, Gary Cahill may start with David Luiz in the central defense and Cech might lead the Blues. Both Patrice Evra and Rio Ferdinand, who were rested for the game against Braga, will start in the defense for The Red Devils. Kagawa suffered a knee injury on Tuesday and is doubtful for the Sunday’s clash.

 

Team Form:

Chelsea               - DWWWW

Man-United       -  WWLWW

Man To Watch:

Chelsea: Juan Mata

 

Man-United: Robin Van Persie

 

PROBABLE LINE UPS:

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Cole; Ramires, Mikel; Oscar, Hazard, Mata; Torres.

Man-United(4-3-3): De Gea; Rafael, Rio, Evans, Evra; Valencia, Carrick, Cleverley; Welbeck, Rooney, Van Persie.

PREDICTION: Chelsea 2-3 Manchester United.

MATCH FACTS:

Wayne Rooney has scored five goals in his last six appearances in all competitions against Chelsea.

David Luiz has scored in both of his appearances for Chelsea against United at Stamford Bridge.

Juan Mata has scored three goals and assisted five more in his last four Premier League appearances.

Whats your prediction?

R.I.P John Connelly

CONNELLY PASSES AWAY

Manchester United are saddened to hear of the death of former star John Connelly,The St Helens-born winger died peacefully at his home at the age of 74.The former England international joined the Reds in April, 1964 and lifted the league championship in his first full season at Old Trafford. After joining Burnley as a teenager, he became a real favorite at Turf Moor and cost United £60,000 after winning another title medal in 1960. #Respect

John Connolly's United career:

Football League: 79 (1) apps / 22 goals
FA Cup: 13 apps / 2 goals
League Cup: 1 app / 0 goals
Europe: 19 apps / 11 goals
TOTAL: 112 (1) apps / 35 goals.

Happy Birthday HARRY GREGG!!!

Happy 80th birthday to Henry "Harry" Gregg. The 'The Hero of Munich', one of the surviving Busby babe. Just not a Legend but a Real Hero. 

Having escaped with just a bloody nose, he went back into the wreckage to pull out those who were trapped. He rescued a 20-month-old child, a pregnant woman and attempted to revive Matt Busby.

It wasn't

out of character. A real tough nut, Gregg was as vocal, commanding and abrasive as Peter Schmeichel would become three decades later. His bold personality and powerful physique had persuaded Busby to fork out £23,000 – then a world record fee for a goalkeeper – just three months before the crash.

After the disaster, Gregg was a part of the patchwork team built by Jimmy Murphy who reached the FA Cup final three months later. United were heroic in defeat, yet that losers’ medal would be the only decoration of Gregg’s time at Old Trafford.

The Northern Ireland international was voted best goalkeeper at the 1958 World Cup and remained United’s first-choice custodian for four years until a shoulder injury threatened his career. Gregg was told by surgeons he may never play again but eventually had major surgery and staged a comeback against Benfica at Old Trafford seven months later.