This fixture was postponed back in December due to weather conditions. At the time Sir Alex Ferguson said said the match was “probably the most important game of the season”. With Chelsea now 15 points behind Man United in the title race, realistically Chelsea can not win the title.
Team News
Chelsea don't have many injury problems, they will only be without Alex and Yossi Benayoun. Yury Zhirkov should return to the squad after recovering from an injury.
Wayne Rooney will be available for Man United after it was confirmed that the FA will not face any action after appearing to elbow Wigan's James McCarthy at the weekend.
Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans are both still out injured so Chris Smalling will continue to partner Nemanja Vidic in heart of United's defence. Also out with injuries are Ji-Sung Park, Anderson, Antonio Valencia and Owen Hargreaves.
Ryan Giggs and Michael Owen are rated as doubtful.
League Positions
Man United beat Wigan 4-0 over the weekend meanwhile Chelsea had the weekend off because they were due to play Birmingham, who were involved in the Carling Cup final.
Manchester United are four points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table with 60 points from 27 games.
Last season's league winners Chelsea on the other hand aren't having the best of seasons. The London side are down in fifth position after playing 27 games and picking up 45 points.
Previous Game
The last game played between the two sides was back on the 8th August 2010 in the FA Community Shield. Man United beat Chelsea 3-1 with goals from Antonio Valencia, Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov. Salomon Kalou scored the only goal for Chelsea.
Head-To-Head
Manchester United and Chelsea have played each other a total of 157 times, which have seen 67 Man United wins, 43 Chelsea wins and 47 draws. Out of the 157 matches, 136 of those have been played in the league. Man United have beaten Chelsea 56 times in the league, lost 39 times and there have been 41 draws.
Recent Form
Chelsea: WLDLW
22nd Feb: FC Copenhagen 0-2 Chelsea (Champions League)
19th Feb: Chelsea 1-1 Everton- Everton won 4-3 on penalties (FA Cup)
14th Feb: Fulham 0-0 Chelsea (Premier League)
6th Feb: Chelsea 0-1 Liverpool (Premier League)
1st Feb: Sunderland 2-4 Chelsea (Premier League
Man United: WDWWL
26th Feb: Wigan 0-4 Man United (Premier League
23rd Feb: Marseille 0-0 Man United (Champions League)
19th Feb: Man United 1-0 Crawley (FA Cup)
12th Feb: Man United 2-1 Man City (Premier League)
5th Feb: Wolves 2-1 Man United (Premier League)
Officials
Referee: Martin Atkinson
Assistants: Peter Kirkup and Mike Mullarkey
Fourth Official: Chris Foy
Atkinson has refereed 28 games this season, he has shown 94 yellow cards and nine red cards. He has officiated three games involving Man United, which were the 3-3 draw away to Everton, the 2-0 win over Wigan at Old Trafford and most recently the 2-1 away win in the FA Cup against Southampton.
Atkinson has also refereed three games involving Chelsea; their 2-0 win at home to Stoke, the 1-0 home win against Fulham and their 2-0 home win against Blackburn.
Not much to say on this game besides both teams want to win which will more than likely make for a tense affair with a draw more than likely being the end result. I for one would be more than happy for a draw in this and a win at the weekend against Liverpool.
Our away form has been atrocious this season which i think is compliment to the other teams in the league as the standard of play has yet again gone up. 0-0 1-1 for me and all i hope is that there aren't any dubious calls that ruin what should be a definitely entertaining game.