Chelsea
Manchester United
Hamburg 2-1 Chelsea
League of Ireland XI 1-7 Manchester United
Frankfurt 2-1 Chelsea
Guadalajara 3-2 Manchester United
Ajax 3-1 Chelsea
MLS All-Stars 2-5 Manchester United Crystal Palace 0-1
Chelsea
Kansas City Wizards 2-1 Manchester United Chelsea 1-0
Portsmouth
Philadelphia Union 0-1 Manchester United
TEAM
NEWS
Chelsea
Petr
Cech will miss the start of the season with a calf injury so
Hilario will take his place ahead of Ross Turnbull.
Didier Drogba has to settle for a place on the bench, while Alex
(calf) and Jose Boswingwa (knee) are ruled out.
Carlo Ancelotti has named his starting line-up and has stuck with
the same 10 outfield players who began the 2-1 loss to Hamburg on
Wednesday.
Confirmed starting XI: Hilario; Ferreira, Ivanovic, Terry,
Cole; Essien, Mikel, Lampard; Kalou, Anelka,
Malouda.
Manchester United
England
captain Rio Ferdinand is again missing with the knee injury that
ruled him out of the World Cup.
Brazilian duo Rafael da Silva and Fabio da Silva will also miss the
game through illness, while Michael Carrick (ankle) has been ruled
out for the first two weeks of the season.
Sir Alex, who has confirmed that Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney will
play 45 minutes each, has given Patrice Evra an extra week off
following his exploits with France at the World Cup.
Possible starting XI: Van der Sar; Neville, Vidic, Evans,
O’Shea; Valencia, Fletcher, Scholes, Park; Owen,
Berbatov.
PLAYERS TO
WATCH
Chelsea
Didier
Drogba will undoubtedly play a major role for the Blues
this season, and could make the difference this Sunday once again -
as he has done so often. The Ivorian enjoyed his best season at
Stamford Bridge last season, netting 37 times throughout the
campaign on his way to winning the Premier League Golden Boot.
Although the Ivorian is starting on the bench, don’t put it past
him to be the match-winner.
Manchester United
The Red
Devils’ key man against Chelsea could be new signing Javier
Hernandez. The 22-year-old starred for Mexico at this
summer’s World Cup and has already caught the eye of the United
faithful, scoring on his debut after coming on as a substitute
against the MLS All-Stars. Sir Alex has a tendency to start the
players who did so well for him in the previous season in these
kind of games, but the Mexican will be desperate to make an impact
if called upon from the bench.
PREDICTION
Always a tough one to call with the season not yet underway.
Difficult to go just on pre-season results so I’m going for a tight
game with Chelsea to win narrowly. United are still without Rio
Ferdinand which could prove to be the difference if Didier Drogba
& Co can start the new season the way they ended the old
one.
