Fortress Stamford Bridge?1) Its at the Bridge.
Four wins from four, and eleven goals scored. Its time to turn the Bridge into a fortress again, and what a perfect time to do it, against second placed Man Utd, and make it a fab five wins from five to start the season.
Norwich, Stoke, Reading and Newcastle have all fallen here, and a 6-0 demolition of Wolves in the cup too, and although we fell to a draw against Juventus, we were superb for 45 minutes of the game.
In fact, stretching back to last season, we have won 10 of our last 13 games at the Bridge, losing just the once.
2) United’s Dodgy Defence.
They have shipped 11 goals in just 8 league games this season, opposed to just our six conceded. The only team to concede more than them in the top 10 is Tottenham, and that’s only because we shot four past them last weekend.
Also, Ferdinand and Evra’s best days look well behind them, whilst Evans, Smalling, and Rafael haven’t yet shown they are going to be world-class.
They went 2-0 down in midweek, at home to an average Braga side, and although they came back to win, don’t expect us to give away any sort of lead easily.
Kagawa: Big loss for Man Utd3) There is no Kagawa.
This is great news for Chelsea. Kagawa is a one-man machine. As Park was for the last two seasons, he is massive in these big games, he will chase, and chase, and offer valuable time in the midfield. Chelsea got a bit of luck with Dembele and Bale being out for Spurs, and this is another huge slice of it.
Expect the likes of Oscar, Mikel, and Ramires to dominate Cleverley and Carrick, and that is what ultimately will win us the game.
4) Man United Should Attack.
They can’t stop conceding, but they have no trouble scoring either. 21 goals in 8 games, means they are unlikely to stop attacking at the Bridge, but if Cahill and Luiz can stop Van Persie, who score a hat-trick here for Arsenal, then we will conquer them on the counter-attack.
But for poor finishing against Spurs, we could’ve got so much more. Hazard, Mata, Oscar, Ramires, Cole, are all rapid, and can leave us top heavy in attack within seconds of defending, creating tons of chances. Expect goals in this one.
5) Fernando Torres
He is back in form, with 6 goals already this season, and with the Stamford Bridge crowd behind him, I think he will add to that tally on Sunday. He is dependent on form, and was going through a pretty bad spell when he produced that horror miss at Old Trafford.
Its a different scenario at the Bridge though, and with the pressure fully off him, I am thinking a big performance from El Nino is in store, and with the balls flying in from Mata and Hazard, he will grab himself a goal.
By Brad Smith
Follow @BrummieBrad