Manchester United-Chelsea: It Doesn't Get Any Bigger Than This

On Saturday, April 3, the Barclays Premier League will have its biggest matchup of the season as Chelsea travels to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United in a match that will ultimately decide who will win the title this season.

Going into this match, both of these sides have many major story lines surrounding their respective clubs.

For Manchester United, this is the match that is sandwiched between the two Champions League fixtures against Bayern Munich.

Even though it is rare that news about a player is bigger than a Champions League match, there was news about a player that held all of England and Manchester United fans on the edge of their seats on the night of March 30.

The news was about England superstar Wayne Rooney's sprained ankle, as it did appear at a time that Rooney might miss the World Cup this summer. That rumor has been dispelled as Rooney will return for Man United sometime within the next two to three weeks.

United have to face a Chelsea side that has had its main focus on winning the Premier League ever since they were eliminated from the Champions League to Inter Milan.

Overall, this has been a year in which Chelsea have at times underperformed, but now is the time for the Pensioners to dethrone United and win the Premier League.

Chelsea will be without Michael Essien (knee), Ashley Cole (ankle), Ricardo Carvalho (ankle), Jose Bosingwa (knee), and Branislav Ivanovic (knee).

Now that you have some background on the team news and what is at stake, here is my preview of what to expect from each side, who will be the players that will ultimately decide who wins this matchup, and my final prediction of the match.

What to Expect

Manchester United: For Manchester United, you can most likely expect to see a match that will have the Red Devils attacking for a majority of the match.

Even without Rooney, Man United know that they will need to continue to attack as they will certainly need goals against a Chelsea side that have scored the most goals (82) in the Premier League this season.

Chelsea: Meanwhile for Chelsea, this will be a match that will be a test to see how well they will counter Man United's attack.

This means that Chelsea will need to have a strong defensive game in front of Petr Cech, and it also means that Chelsea will need to rely mainly off the counterattack for most of the match.

Players to Watch

Manchester United: The player that will be watched the most in this entire match will be Dimitar Berbatov, as he will now be the man that will have the most control of the Red Devils attack with Rooney out.

This will ultimately be the match that will be the deciding factor if Berbatov was worth the $30.75 million transfer in September of 2008 from Tottenham Hotspur.

The second player to watch from Manchester United will be Edwin Van der Sar, who put together an inspiring performance against Bayern Munich in the Champions League this week despite the loss.

All time, Van der Sar has never lost at Old Trafford to Chelsea, and his impact for United cannot be understated.

And finally, my third player to watch for Manchester United will be Nemanja Vidic.

Vidic, who of course is the rock in United's defense, has been an arch nemesis to Chelsea in recent seasons. He had the winning goal against Chelsea last year in United's 3-0 win at Old Trafford, and of course he had that memorable moment with Didier Drogba in the 2008 Champions League final in which he was slapped in the face, causing Drogba to be red carded.

Chelsea: For Chelsea, they have received a major break with Didier Drogba being declared fit for the match. He is arguably the most important player for Chelsea on the pitch for this match.

Of course Drogba has never scored a goal against United in the Premier League, so it will be interesting to see if he will break that streak at Old Trafford on Saturday.

My second player to watch from Chelsea will be the captain John Terry.

Terry will now be in charge of stopping United's Rooney-less attack, and he cannot have any major slip ups, as United are still completely capable of scoring if they get a good enough chance.

And my final player to watch from Chelsea will be Frank Lampard, who will have a major part to play after his four-goal performance at Stamford Bridge last Saturday against Aston Villa.

If Lampard can get several more great opportunities at Old Trafford, this will be a very long day for Edwin Van der Sar and Co.

And the winner will be: After reviewing everything, I have decided that United will win this fantastic matchup by a 2-1 score.

Despite not having Rooney, United are still an offensive side that are capable of scoring on anyone, and I believe that Rooney's injury will spur Untied onto victory.