| August 25, 2013 |
Manchester United
registered an excellent 4-1 win on the opening day of the season at
Swansea City last weekend. With Robin van Persie & Danny Welbeck
scoring doubles for the Premier League champions, Moyes
couldn’t have asked for a better start. This time around the opponent
isn’t going to be different and the test is going to be much sterner
since they’ll now be taking on Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea. Chelsea started
their campaign beautifully with consecutive home wins against Hull City
and Aston Villa.
It’s been a long time for Moyes since
being confirmed as Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor to get a game in front
of home club supporters. First game against Chelsea will definitely be a
thrilling experience. With both sides set to seriously challenge the
Premier League title, neither camp will to concede early ground to their
opponent. It’ll be interest to see Wayne Rooney in this game especially
since Chelsea has expressed interest in getting on board. Rooney has
submitted two transfer requests in the last three years and is a
transfer target for Chelsea. Their formal bids were
turned down by Manchester United. Mourinho has however claimed that
Chelsea would not renew their interest until after this match is
finished.
Moyes has repeatedly confirmed that Manchester United
is not putting Rooney up for sale and may well start against Mourinho’s
men. However, Brazilian defender Rafael is certain to miss the match
due to hamstring injury along with Darren Fletcher (out sick) and Nick
Powell who has a leg injury. Few others who may not feature for this
game include Ashley Young (ankle injury), Chicharito (hamstring) &
Nani (groin).
While, Chelsea would consider themselves
fortunate to have defeated Aston Villa 2-1 on Wednesday, with defender
Branislav Ivanovic heading the winner with 17 minutes remaining; only to
be given a yellow card after catching Christian Benteke with an elbow.
What works in Chelsea’s advantage is that they haven’t lost their last
10 Premier League fixtures. While Manchester United’s
home Premier League record is outstanding, their defeats have come at
the hands of Chelsea. Also, United was knocked out of FA cup and the
Capital One cup by Mourinho’s men. Chelsea’s only injury concern is
David Luiz who may miss out due to a hamstring injury.
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