Chelsea v Manchester United
Stamford Bridge, 12:45 BST
Chelsea make a strange phenomenon. While being under heavy criticism throughout the season, The Blues find themselves just 3 points behind highly respected Manchester United. It seems that all the noise surrounding Avram Grant made us forget that Chelsea have one of the most talented squad in the Premiership. This alone makes Chelsea a prime contender for the League title.
The most surprising thing about Chelsea is the fact they are in reach of the Premiership title despite the fact they are playing poorly, using their skilled players to complete a lot of defensive tasks, while leaving no room for flair and creativity. The result is a set of boring matches, which often end in a 1-0 result in favor of the more talented squad of Chelsea FC.
That is the reason that the Chelsea supporters chant “You Don’t Have a Clue” towards their manager, and as time passes by, it sure looks like Grant is in a problem. In more than one case Chelsea looked as a group of players who met for the first time a couple of minutes before kickoff. There are no planned moves, no strategy, no special free kicks. All that we see is an extremely talented group of players getting the most out of their talent, which is just enough to bring them those 1-0 wins.
This strange tactics will surely not work when Chelsea will face Manchester United on Saturday. United come very confident, knowing that even a defeat will not be enough to pip them from the top of the table, but more than that – United is a very good team, being led by the best manager in England. Sir Alex’s wits will help him to get his players ready to the Chelsea style of play, and when such strong squads collide – the side who will play as a team will be better than the collection of individuals.
This brings us to believe that Manchester United will not fall before Chelsea. Since Sir Alex knows that a draw will be more than enough to ensure United’s title (unless some catastrophe will happen in the next 2 matches), this is exactly what he’ll aim for. Manchester will take their advantage and use it to earn the all needed one point. Let the celebrations – Begin.
BetUKnow predictions
More then 50% of BetUknow community thinks that Manchester United will win this match, leaving only 18% to go with Avram Grant’s team. Both teams’ top predictors put their money on a draw.
Under the definition of catenaccio lie a series of modules and tactical schemes that define the main philosophy of the team’s defensive unit. The latter’s mission is essentially that of preventing the opposing team from scoring, an objective which is achieved by closing down (or precisely, “locking” or “bolting”) the area around the team’s own net.
