When I was a player, Manchester United vs Chelsea was definitely the most interesting matchup in the Premier League. Unfortunately, the standard of both teams has dropped over the last couple of seasons, but nevertheless, this game is quite important for the current situation of each other.
United will be looking to pick up all six points from this game and their next home game against Gonemouth, as they face a really tough test at the end of the year with trips to Liverpool and Westham, followed by home games against this season's strongest side Aston Villa and the final game of the 2023 campaign against Nottingham Forest, with a UEFA Europa League home game against Bayern Munich in the middle of all these league matches.
Manchester United are still in a difficult position with a string of tough games ahead. While we usually see winning in the face of poor performance as a good thing, United's run of poor performances has been going on for far too long. The last defeat against Newcastle, for example, was so bad in a battle for the top four that a 0:1 loss doesn't reflect the truly dire situation, and is clearly unacceptable for a club of United's caliber.
Even in the matches that United barely won, there is no denying that United's overall poor performance was largely due to their key players. For weeks I have been predicting United to win narrowly against weaker teams, and they did because of their high individual quality, but it wasn't the star players that saved the day or saved the day for them. First class players like Rashford, Helen, Anthony Mafios, Onana, Anthony Martial and Gustin Allison are not up to the level we know them to be, and this has hurt United.
If United want to stay in Europe and challenge for the top four next year, these players will have to make even more progress over the next few weeks or go into the land of doom this season.
Like Manchester United, Chelsea's performance at St. James' Park two weeks earlier was equally poor, again highlighting the problem of drift. Despite the result, I've been impressed with Chelsea over the past two months. Considering the position they are in, taking 8 points out of a possible 18 from a series of 6 games including Arsenal, Binford, Tottenham, Manchester City, Newcastle and Brighton is a positive change for a side that should have taken 11 had it not been for a big miss against Binford. If they can win on Wednesday, I think Puttyshyno will be delighted, especially considering Chelsea were winless in the league back in September.
Unlike Man Utd, Chelsea's big names have started to show some more positive performances. We all know how good Staanen and Galpenma have been, but the likes of Ansell Fernandes, Nicolas Jackson and Moses Scarcido have all been scoring goals and doing well in recent games.
The suspension of Gunnar Garrincha will be a big blow to Chelsea, a man who has been in excellent form this season. However, I think this provides an interesting option for Chelsea, as I've been impressed with the way Galpenma has played in the center of the midfield, and I think the loss of Gunnar Garrincha could result in Ansel Ferrandis and Moses Scarlitto linking up with Pema to play as a No.10 in the center of the midfield. If United don't have a solid defensive midfielder, I think Gal Pema could cause them real problems in that position, and as a City boy, wouldn't he love to be at Otford? If you know much about United's history against Chelsea, you'll know that the name Gower has scored important goals before ...... (yes, that's me!).
