Chelsea vs. Manchester United: Red Devils Ready to Dominate Blues with Returnees

Things are once again looking up for Manchester United. After treading their way through a difficult midseason slate with an infirmary full of injured players, the Red Devils finally found themselves back on the mend.

Just in time for a monumental English Premier League clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Sir Alex Ferguson will welcome back a quadrant of stars—Wayne Rooney, Nani, Ashley Young and Tom Cleverley—as United look to keep pace with Manchester City in the race for the Premiership title. The "noisy neighbors" demolished Fulham on Saturday, 3-0, to move three points clear of Fergie's squad atop the table.

Rooney and Nani missed United's previous two matches, an FA Cup loss to Liverpool and an EPL victory over Stoke City, with foot injuries but are expected to feature in Fergie's starting XI. Young, who joined United on a transfer from Aston Villa over the summer, will be available for the first time since December after recovering from a foot knock of his own.

Perhaps most important, though, is the long-awaited return of Cleverley. The 22-year-old hasn't seen the pitch since October on account of a variety of leg injuries. While Cleverley isn't likely to start after such a long layoff, he will provide some much-needed depth to a United midfield that has been so depleted by injury this season as to necessitate luring Paul Scholes out of retirement.

Luckily for the Red Devils, they won't likely need too much of Cleverley's clever play to earn three points against Chelsea. The Blues have scored just three goals in their last four fixtures, two of which resulted in draws against EPL newcomers Norwich City and Swansea City.

That's not to say that Chelsea won't give United plenty of trouble, but rather that having a more complete deck shifts the odds firmly in Fergie's favor from here on out.

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