Welbeck To Lead The Attack: Strongest Manchester United lineup To Play Against Chelsea

Manchester United travel to the daunting Stamford Bridge to face a Chelsea side who will be playing their first game at home in 2014, fully knowing that yet another defeat is sure to cast gloomy faces at Old Trafford and signal an end to retain their Premier League crown. United have failed to score in their last three games against Chelsea in all competitions and will be yet again missing both Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney through injuries. 

David Moyes doesn’t possess a mentionable record against the big boys in his CV to speak for and I am sure he will be looking to get a draw from the game, rather than going over the line to seek a win and then get beaten badly. How subtle the margins can be! Can Moyes however hand Mourinho his first defeat at home? We here at Soccersouls provide our readers with Manchester United’s best possible line up as they look to seek three points at Stamford Bridge.

Goalkeeping:

David De Gea will have to be fully aware of his goalkeeping abilities and wary of the threat Chelsea possess in the final third. The triumvirate of Willian, Oscar and Hazard all have goals in them, especially the Belgian who simply can’t scoring at this moment. Moyes has never won a head-to-head meeting with Jose Mourinho. Can De Gea help the Scot and his team?

Defence:

Rafael is expected to play in the right back slot while Patrice Evra, the latter who certainly needs to up the game, will be drafting the left back position. The central defensive partnership of Nemanja Vidic and Johnny Evans/Chris Smalling, who has not been upto the mark during recent games have to be aware of Oscar, Willian and Hazard to prevent the home side from scoring early and then burying the game well into the first half itself.

Midfield:

This is perhaps where Moyes will have to take extra care and flood the Chelsea midfield. Micheal Carrick and Darren Fletcher are expected to play in the middle of the park to protect the back four and disrupt the opposition attacks from cutting their defence wide open. Shinji Kagawa might start in the hole behind the lone striker up front while the width on either flanks will be provided by Adnan Januzaj and Anton Valencia. They need to provide more midfield width and disrupt the opposition by providing more crosses from either flanks.

Talking to the press ahead of the game, Moyes updated the latest on his injured stars.

“Jonny Evans has had a problem with his back and Phil Jones has had a problem with his knee. He’s getting close to being available. Young’s injury was from the challenge against Tottenham that we wanted a penalty kick for, but it’s beginning to look as if he could be available and ready as well. We’re beginning to get a few people back.”

“Fellaini will have the cast taken off his hand on Monday. “He has been able to do lots of running and lots of training but not anything with a football. Hopefully, next week, we will get ‘Felli’ back

 

Strikeforce:

Wayne Rooney (groin) has at least started running again, whilst Van Persie (thigh) should return to training on Monday after nearly six weeks on the sidelines, which means United will have none out on the pitch at Stamford Bridge.

“Wayne’s come back, he’s fresh but he’s not ready for Chelsea,” he told the reporters. 

Thus Danny Welbeck will be handed over the job to lead United’s line up front.