Chelsea vs Manchester United Prediction - A Major Test For Van Gaal's United

Next Saturday, 18th of April 2015, a super moralized Manchester United will travel to London to measure forces with the league leaders, Chelsea, at Stamford Bridge for round 33 of the English Premier League.

The FA Cup defeat against Arsenal earlier in March apparently managed to wake up a sleepy United, who, from that clash onwards, have won every single match in which they have taken part. Last weekend, the Red Devils overcame their neighbours and all-time rivals of Manchester City on a match where they displayed a truly combative spirit that, together with the inspiration of their midfield line, enabled them to secure the important three points.

The usual suspect, Sergio Aguero, opened the score for the Citizens at Old Trafford, but thanks to United’s hard-working midfield line, the latter managed to bounce back and ended up by clinching a deserved 4-2 win that helped them to increase their advantage towards Manchester City to four points.

The upcoming match at Stamford Bridge will certainly be even more complicated for Louis Van Gaal’s men and they will need to put up something particularly special in order to overcome a Chelsea team that has not yet been defeated at home for the English Premier League this season.

As for Chelsea, José Mourinho’s Blues are on their way to win the English Premier League title, and with a seven-point lead and one game in hand, nothing may almost certainly prevent them from being coronated champions at the end of the season.

Chelsea are on a three-match row of consecutive wins. Last weekend, they overcame QPR for another London Derby at Loftus Road, but they had to dig deep in order to grant the three points. A late goal from the Spanish deep-lying playmaker Cesc Fabregas offered José Mourinho’s boys a deserved but at the same time extremely complicated win.

Despite Manchester United’s recent good run, it is not very likely that they will manage to defeat Chelsea at their London’s stronghold, but it is possible that they may be able to snatch a draw, given their extremely high motivation levels at the present moment.

Chelsea

Stats: W-3 L-1 D-1

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Manchester United

Stats: W-4 L-1 D-0

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Possible Line-ups

Chelsea (4-3-3) - Courtois - Ivanovic - Terry - Cahill - Azpilicueta - Matic - Ramires - Fabregas - Hazard - Willian - Drogba

Manchester United (4-1-4-1) – De Gea - Valencia - Smalling - Jones - Blind - Carrick - Di Maria - Fellaini - Young - Mata - Rooney

Injury List / Suspended Players

Chelsea

Diego Costa (inj)

Manchester United

Van Persie (inj)

Luke Shaw (inj)

Head-to-head matches:

Top Players:

Chelsea

Cesc Fabregas

Eden Hazard

Nemanja Matic

Manchester United

Wayne Rooney

Juan Mata

David de Gea

Predictable Goal Scorers:

Chelsea

1. Eden Hazard
2. Didier Drogba
3. Cesc Fabregas

Manchester United

1. Wayne Rooney
2. Marouane Fellaini
3. Juan Mata

Half-Time Score

Chelsea 1 Manchester United 1

Full-Time Score

Chelsea 2 Manchester United 1