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Manchester United will travel to the English capital as they face off against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. United's 2-0 defeat to Liverpool and Chelsea's 5-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers in the same week saw United knocked off the top perch with the closing pack breathing down their neck. The Red Devils will come into the game knowing that all three points could restore them to the top of the league, while a win for Chelsea, would give the Londoners some breathing space at the top of the table.

Both United and Chelsea have played some good football this season and apart from some hiccups such as United's recent defeat at Liverpool and Chelsea's away defeats at Aston Villa and Wigan, it has b een smooth sailing for the top two. Chelsea in particular are playing some excellent attacking football with Carlo Ancelotti hailing his strike force of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka as the best in the league. The duo have already scored 12 league goals between them and have created 12 as well. While Anelka's role may be important it has been the Ivory Coast international who has been pivotal to Chelsea's renaissance. Both the teams registered draws in the Champions' league in midweek as United put out a decidedly second string unit that drew 3-3 with CSKA Moscow. Sir Alex Ferguson did need to call on reinforcements  after CSKA had taken a 3-1 lead shortly after half time. Chelsea meanwhile made the trip to Spain and drew 2-2 with Primera Liga strugglers Atletico Madrid, Sergio Aguero denying the Blues all three points with a 90th minute free kick.

Sir Alex is likely to be the more worried of the two managers heading into this game as he heads to the Bridge without the power of Rio Ferdinand, and with his back four already having been exposed plenty of times this season. Nemanja Vidic has been struggling for fitness all season and a rookie like Jonny Evans might just get the feeling of being mugged if he has to deal with the raw physical challenge of Drogba. Chelsea's defence on the other hand has been the meanest in the league so far, conceding just 8 goals, and it will require something special from Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney to penetrate them.

The most recent encounter between the two was this season's FA Community Shield which saw Chelsea take the honours winning 4-1 on penalties, after the 90 minutes ended with two goals apiece. Last season's encounters in the Premier League went decidedly in favour of United, as they drew 1-1 at Stamford Bridge and romped to a 3-0 win at Old Trafford. United were unlucky not to come away with all three points last year with Salomon Kalou scoring an 80th minute equalizer after Ji-Sung Park had given United the lead. United are winless on their last seven League visits to the Bridge, losing on 4 occasions. Their last win came in the 2002 season, ironically one of only two seasons this decade that neither United nor Chelsea won the League. The Blues versus the Red Devils has been the major rivalry in English football over the last five seasons, Chelsea saw off United in the 2007 FA Cup final to be crowned the first FA Cup champions at the new Wembley, while United got their revenge and then some more as they defeated Chelsea in the 2008 Champions League final on penalties in Moscow.

Ancelotti has a good record against Sir Alex, with the two managers meeting each other in the Champions' League Semi finals in the 2007-08 edition when the former was the boss at AC Milan. The affair ended with the Italian having the last laugh, knocking United out on a 5-3 aggregate score line.

Whatever the stage, encounters between the two have been entertaining and Sunday's fixture promises to be no different. Sir Alex Ferguson stated the importance of getting a result in this tie and acknowledged Chelsea as "the biggest threat to their title ambitions" in a recent interview. Chelsea's recent form coupled with United's dismal defensive performances this season, make Chelsea the favourites for the game. Rio Ferdinand's injury and Gary Neville's suspension will add to United's defensive woes and to stack further odds against the Red Devils, Chelsea haven't conceded at home for 13 hours.

Manchester United

Manchester United 3-3 CSKA Moscow (UCL)
Manchester United 2-0 Blackburn Rovers (Premier League)
Manchester United 2-0 Barnsley (Carling Cup)
Liverpool 2-0 Manchester United (Premier League)
CSKA Moscow 0-1 Manchester United (UCL)

Injury list: Rio Ferdinand (calf strain), Ji Sung Park (knee injury), Owen Hargreaves (jumper's knee), Ryan Giggs (knee injury)

Top Scorers: Rooney (7), Berbatov (4), Fletcher (2), Owen (2)

Chelsea

Atletico Madrid 2-2 Chelsea (UCL)
Bolton Wanderers 0-4 Chelsea (Premier League)
Chelsea 4-0 Bolton Wanderers (Carling Cup)
Chelsea 5-0 Blackburn Rovers (Premier League)
Chelsea 4-0 Atletico Madrid (UCL)

Injury list: Yuri Zhirkov (ankle/foot Injury), Jose Bosingwa (knee Injury), John Obi Mikel (ankle/foot Injury)

Top Scorers: Drogba (9), Lampard (4), Anelka (3), Ballack (3)

Likely line-ups:

Manchester United: Van Der Sar, Vidic, Evans, Evra, O'Shea, Valencia, Carrick, Fletcher, Nani, Berbatov, Rooney

Chelsea: Cech, A Cole, Terry, Carvalho, Belleti, J Cole, Lampard, Essien, Ballack, Drogba, Anelka

File Photograph Copyright: Crystian Cruz

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