On Sunday, February 7, Chelsea FC hosts Manchester United FC in an English Premier League week 25 fixture. The game will be played at the Stamford Bridge stadium in the city of London and will kick off at 16:00 BST.
The hosts are currently 13th on the league table with 29 points from 24 games, while the visitors are in 5th place, with 40 points from 24 games.
A win for the London team will can see them move up one position to 12th place, while a defeat can see them drop to 15th place. A win for the Manchester team will see them retain their current position on the table, while a defeat can see them drop to 6th place.
Chelsea slow but steadyChelsea have slowly but steadily improved under the management of Guus Hiddink and are unbeaten in the ten games since he took over. They drew the first leg of this game a couple of weeks ago, and will be looking to continue in their recent fine form.
The Blues, managed by Guus Hiddink are in good form, with two wins and three draws in their last five games in all competitions. These wins were in consecutive games against Arsenal in the league (0-1 on January 24), and MK Dons in the FA Cup (1-5 on January 31).
The reigning champions have drawn three of their last four league games, against West Bromwich Albion (2-2 on January 13), Everton (3-3 on January 16), and Watford (0-0 on February 3).
Manchester United back in formEmbattled manager Louis Van Gaal has managed to secure a run of wins to silence his critics recently. After a very poor string of results in December, the Manchester giants have been able to secure a number of recent wins, to keep the doubters quiet, at least in the immediate term.
The Red Devils, managed by Louis Van Gaal are in good form, with three wins, one draw and one defeat in their last five games in all competitions. These wins include league victories against Liverpool (0-1 on January 17), and Stoke City (3-0 on February 2). They also made it past Derby County in the fourth round of the FA Cup (1-3 on January 29).
The 2013 Champions could only manage a draw in their game against Newcastle United (3-3 on January 12), but suffered defeat against Southampton (0-1 on January 23).
Diego Costa has undergone some sort of transformation since Jose Mourinho was ousted from the helm, scoring 6 goals his last 7 league outings. He will be looking to continue his fine form against the biggest side in the country. Wayne Rooney is back to his best after a very poor start to the season, with 7 goals in 7 games. He is a player for the big occasion and he will be looking to do the business against Chelsea.
Chelsea has improved vastly under Guus Hiddink, but are yet to hit the heights they set last season, while Manchester United have turned out some brilliant results recently. I see these two teams canceling each other out with this game ending in a draw.
