Chelsea, Man Utd seek win in two-horse race
By Semiu Osho
February 10, 2010 02:28AM
Chelsea’s John Terry (top R) heads in his goal against Manchester United during their English Premier League soccer match at Stamford Bridge in London November 8, 2009. Photos: REUTERS
Chelsea and Manchester United face difficult trips tonight as the two teams hope to step up their chances of winning the English Premier League at the end of the season.
Chelsea enjoy a slender two-point advantage over United with only 13 games left to play in the campaign, but the two clubs will be playing away against Everton and Aston Villa respectively.
Although the last time Everton recorded a victory over Chelsea was their 2-1 win in November 2000 at Goodison Park, Everton have always posed a big problem for the Blues. Carlo Ancelotti’s side were held to a 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge on December 12 as the Toffees came from behind to claim a share of the spoils and that was the third time in three meetings that Chelsea had to contend with a draw against the Merseyside outfit.
With Michael Essien, the man who secured Chelsea’s last winner against Everton with his 81st minute goal in April 2008, is yet to recover from the injury he sustained during the African Cup of Nations in Angola, Chelsea will be happy with the form of their Cote d’ Ivoire striker, Didier Drogba. Drogba, whose brace last weekend seemed to have ended Arsenal’s hopes of winning the Premier League this season, scored one of the two goals that earned the Blues the 2009 FA Cup title against Everton and he would be looking to add to his league tally of 17 goals to propel his club to victory tonight.
His teammate, Michael Ballack believes Drogba is key to Chelsea’s title aspiration this season. “He is unbelievable, with physical strength and technical ability. He’s a striker but also a freekick taker. In fact, he is a striker with a lot of other qualities. Not many players have this. You see in the big games like Arsenal, he was there. That is why he is a big player,” Ballack said on Chelsea’s official website.
Everton had recorded successive victories over Sunderland and Wigan Athletic before losing to Liverpool last weekend and they will look for the inspiration of back-in-action midfielder, Mikel Arteta to tame Chelsea.
Twin terror
Manchester United on their part, will be wary of the threat of Aston Villa’s duo of Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young when the two sides meet tonight at the Villa Park. The pair had already masterminded a famous win at Old Trafford in the reverse fixture on December 12 but United cannot afford to drop more points if they hope to leapfrog Chelsea at the summit of the league table.
United are buoyed by the deadly form of Wayne Rooney who has helped the English champions to put the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo behind them. The England striker looks unstoppable having scored an impressive 21 league goals for the Red Devils and it will be no surprise if Aston Villa manager, Martin O’neal adopting a defensive approach that will only leave Agbonlahor and Young upfront to support John Carew or Emile Heskey as the only striker.
This formation has however not prevented Villa from suffering four defeats out of United’s last five visits to the Villa Park and it will take a huge effort from the host to stop Rooney and his army.
The battle for third spot
Arsenal were left to gnash their teeth after last weekend’s defeat at Stamford Bridge but it will be a more difficult pill to swallow if they surrendered to another loss against the top four. But having defeated Liverpool at Anfield earlier this season, Arsene Wenger could use tonight’s game to appease to the club’s disgruntled home fans.
Interestingly, Liverpool will be two points away from drawing level on points with third-placed Arsenal should they claim a win at the Emirates. However, they have had to contend with many problems this season, especially with injuries to their influential skipper Steven Gerrard and top striker Fernando Torres. Their last two Premier League visits to Arsenal have ended in a draw but the Gunners will be more desperate for a win.
Other Matches
West Ham United will face Birmingham at the Upton Park while Wolverhamton Wanderers will host Tottenham Hotspurs; in search of points to survive relegation. Blackburn Rovers who suffered a 3-0 rout at Stoke City last weekend will host Manchester City’s conquerors, Hull City.
