Chelsea seek to decide destiny of Premier League Title
Andre
Villas-Boas may have conceded Chelsea are out of the Premier League
title race but his side's superb home record against Manchester United
means they can still influence the final destiny of the championship.
Sir
Alex Ferguson's United last won in the league at Stamford Bridge 10
years ago and the rivalry between the clubs burns as fiercely as ever,
despite the 12-point gap that currently separates the two sides.
United
are locked in a battle with their near neighbours Manchester City at
the head of the table, while Chelsea's immediate challenge is to tighten
their grip on fourth place.
John Terry will miss the game with a
knee injury but while the fall-out from the Football Association's
decision to strip him of the England captaincy has overshadowed
Chelsea's preparations, Ferguson is well aware of the challenge posed by
Villas-Boas' side.
"It's not an easy game going to Stamford Bridge. We haven't beaten them since 2002, which is a decade," said the United manager.
"In
that period, Chelsea's rise to prominence has been obvious and the last
seven years, we have battled with them for league titles. Therefore,
you expect a hard game and it will be.
"I hope our form will stand
up as it did in the Arsenal game. Even last week at Liverpool (in the
FA Cup), it was a really good performance from us, we just threw the
match away with two bad mistakes.
"We didn't deserve it, but that can happen in a cup tie."
But
Villas-Boas warned a Chelsea victory could derail United's title bid --
just as their win over City last December had triggered a dip in form
for Roberto Mancini's side.
"The leader in mid-December, Man City,
was undisputed but they lost against us and continued to lose games and
continued to drop points," said the Chelsea manager, who knows three
points would strengthen his position after a week in which Jose Mourinho
was linked with a move back to the club.
"Man United in the last
five games have three wins and two defeats, surprisingly, and that is
the situation of the league and we can never tell."
Terry's absence could mean a first start for Gary Cahill, while Frank Lampard could return after a calf injury.
Midfielders Ramires and John Obi Mikel are injured.
Ferguson
still faces an anxious wait over his goalkeeping position, with Anders
Lindegaard expected to be out for up to six weeks with ankle ligament
damage and David de Gea also facing a late fitness test on his own ankle
injury.
Ferguson expects de Gea, who has found his introduction
to English football a torrid one, to recover in time to play, meaning
young Englishman Ben Amos -- who made his league debut in the 2-0
mid-week victory over Stoke -- will be on the bench.
"De Gea
should be fit," said Ferguson. "In fairness to Ben Amos, he has been
agitating for this opportunity for quite a while and we had to calm him
down in the sense of whether he should go out on loan or not.
"It's
not easy if you're in Europe to let one of your goalkeepers go. You do
really need three of them, that point's been proved now.
"Ben did well the other night. He has had opportunities in the League Cup, played against Valencia, things like that.
"He's
had a little bit of experience but not the kind of experience you'd
expect going into a game like Stamford Bridge. It is something I will
make a decision on later."
However, the injury news is almost
entirely positive for Ferguson elsewhere as Wayne Rooney, Nani, Ashley
Young and Tom Cleverley will all be in the United squad.
"Obviously
Young has been out a few weeks, Cleverley has been out a few months so
it's more likely Thomas will play against Chelsea reserves on Monday,
but he's travelling anyway," explained Ferguson.
"Hopefully, Nani is okay. He has trained the last two days."
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