Man United v Chelsea Match Preview: United in for a scare with Jose seeking blood at Old Trafford

24 October 2014 10:11

With Halloween just around the corner Louis Van Gaal and his Manchester United side could be in for a fright when Chelsea visit Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.

With the blues high on confidence and having not lost a game in all competitions this season, Mourinho will not be wanting United inflicting Chelsea to a first defeat of the campaign.

So, is this the chance for the Portuguese to put United in their place? After all, we all know what the Special One likes to do on these big occasions’. Calm and composed, Mourinho knows how to deal with pressure, just when you believe your side has an early grip against a Mourinho team and you believe you could go on and win the game, in the blink of an eye you can find yourselves behind and then having a mountain to climb.

Just ask Liverpool, in April this year Chelsea won 2-0 at Anfield, they were pegged back for the majority of the game but Steven Gerrard’s ill-fated slip allowed Demba Ba to finish and a break-away goal from Willian ensured the 51 year old Portuguese produced yet another managerial master class.

Could this be the case for Louis Van Gaal on Sunday? In September we remember how United were 2-0 up away at Leicester inside 16 minutes through Robin Van Persie and Angel Di Maria but somehow embarrassingly lost the tie 5-3.

And the same again a week later at home to West Ham when Rooney and RVP put United up against the same score line in 22 minutes, the reds saw out the game 2-1 on that occasion, even though they lost their captain to a red card.

With all due respect to the Foxes and the Hammers, they are two teams United should be turning over comfortably; especially with the £145 million worth of players LVG has to work with and that n’t including former manager David Moyes’ purchases of Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata.

With all the ability United have going forward, LVG will be extremely worried about his ghostly defence. In the Premier League alone Chelsea have already scored 22 goals this season and only conceded 8 in the process, but with top scorer Diego Costa set to miss the clash it gives the centre half pairing of Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo one less problem to think about.

So with two days to go until this mouth-watering clash, both LVG and Mourinho have decisions to make. Does Van Gaal ensure United set the tempo early and try to put Chelsea on the back foot right from the first whistle? Or does Mourinho t’ and plunge United into a late, dark grave?

Source: DSG