Date: 18th February 2019 at 4:38pm
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A Blue Up North previews Chelsea’s FA Cup tie at home to Manchester United.

This Monday evening sees Chelsea host Manchester United in the 5th round of this season’s FA Cup at Stamford Bridge. It is a clash between the 2 most successful clubs in Premier League history and the stand out tie of the round.

However, both sides have had their issues this season and neither are close enough to be challenging for the league title.

The Blues, under the stewardship of new manager Maurizio Sarri, started the season very well and were unbeaten in all competitions until  24 November. Since then the results have become indifferent, while the quality of the football being played has turned quite dour and tough to support.

The Red Devils seemed to have been suffering from Jose Mourinho’s 3rd season syndrome as their football became very un-United and they struggled, especially against the bigger teams. The temporary appointment of former player Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to replace Chelsea’s most successful ever manager appears to have lifted the clouds over Old Trafford. Not only did they record a run of 8 successive victories, but the style of playing returned to being more open and attacking in it’s nature.

These turnabouts by both clubs has meant that United have not only narrowed the gap to The Blues, but have move above the Londoners in to 4th place. However both clubs had varied results in Europe this week. Solskjaer suffered his first defeat in charge and his side are on the verge of crashing out of the Champions League at the hands of Paris Saint Germain. Meanwhile on Thursday Chelsea gained a valuable away win at Malmö FF and looked destined to be in the quarterfinals of the Europa League.

United also suffered 2 injury blows on Tuesday. Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard both left the match early and are out of action for at least 2 weeks. Both players have been key to the side’s recent resurgence and are key to their counter attacking abilities. Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku could well deputise, with Marcus Rashford moving from the central spot in a return to a more Mourinho looking forward line.

Sarri could well have Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Marcos Alonso fit enough to call upon. After the win in the first leg, the manager may plan on using a slightly weaker side for the return leg on this coming Thursday. So we can expect his favoured line up against United with Gonzalo Higuain leading the line.

With few players performing at their best, most of the other places are not guaranteed. Mateo Kovacic, Willian, Alonso and Antonio Rudiger could all start but that may be a little harsh on Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ross Barkley, Loftus-Cheek, Emerson Palmieri and Andreas Christensen.

Sarri’s choices and how his side perform will come under even closer scrutiny as the manager comes under increased pressure, especially after the total capitulation against Manchester City last weekend.

Despite The Blues still being in all 3 cup competitions and only 1 point off 4th place in the Premier League, the football played by his teams can be quite dire and there is less signs of the so called Sarriball for which owner Roman Abramovich hired the ex Napoli boss in the first place.

But there is a little something special about this tie. It was Chelsea who finally broke the domination of United in English football and since then there have been many key clashes between the two sides. The 2007 FA Cup Final and the 2008 Champions League Final were played at the very highest level and couldn’t have been closer.

In recent seasons, Chelsea have taken the upper hand in their cup meetings. After all The Blues have beaten The Red Devils in their last 4 FA Cup encounters, including last season’s Final. A 5th consecutive 1-0 victory would be very welcome to Sarri and all Blues supporters.

Surely motivation will not be an issue for the manager and Chelsea have a number of big game players in their squad. If they all prove this once again, it will be Chelsea’s name that will be allocated to ball number 5 in the quarterfinal draw straight after the match and the Chelsea bandwagon will roll on despite suffering with wobbling wheels.

Written by Jon Ellis, home and away season ticket holder. Follow him on Twitter @ClitheroeBlue

 

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