Man United and Chelsea Meet at Stamford Bridge in Battle of EPL's Best

In the biggest matchup in the English Premier League so far this year, three-time defending EPL champion Manchester United travel to Stamford Bridge to take the current leaders of the EPL in Chelsea.

Heading into this match, Man United and Chelsea have developed a huge rivalry in recent years, as they have met each other in a memorable 2007 FA Cup final (in which Chelsea won on penalties), have faced each other twice a year in the Premier League in hotly contested matches, and in the 2008 UEFA Champions League final, where John Terry slipped and fell on a game winning penalty during the fifth round of the penalty shootout, in which Man United came back and won 6-5 to win the 2008 Champions League final.

And last year, Man United and Chelsea drew one all at Stamford Bridge early in the Premier League season, and met at Old Trafford in January, in which United thrashed Chelsea 3-0 on their way to win their third consecutive Premier League title.

However since then, Chelsea have won the 2009 FA Cup and have gotten off to a great start with new manager Carlo Ancelotti, as they currently are the leaders in the English Premier League table.

These two sides have also already met each other this year in the FA Community Shield, in which Michael Ballack elbowed Patrice Evra on the head and got away without a booking, causing the tempers to rise in a match that is considered by many to be a friendly.

So with all of this hype from what has happened to these two sides over the last several years, here is a preview of the match for both the Manchester United and Chelsea sides.

 

Chelsea

The current leaders of the English Premier League by two points over Manchester United, Chelsea head into this home match looking to increase their lead in the Premier League table to five points.

Chelsea have had mixed results within the last month in the Premier League, as they have gained the lead but still lost at Wigan and Aston Villa within the last month.

But due to their recent success, Chelsea have tremendous confidence going into this match, which could be a major advantage for the Blues over the Red Devils.

Also, Carlo Ancelotti has stated that this will be a huge win for Chelsea, and they will need Didier Drogba to play his best and to add on to his great recent form of 12 goals in his last 13 games.

And Chelsea know that Drogba and Anelka must play strong in order to win, as Chelsea have scored 19 goals in their last five matches.

And the final major factor to watch is that this match is taking place in Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea are undefeated so far this year and have not lost to United since April of 2002.

Manchester United

After beating Blackburn Rovers 2-0 last weekend and coming from behind on Nov. 3 to draw with CSKA Moscow 3-3 at Old Trafford, Manchester United will head to Stamford Bridge looking to build their title credentials for this year.

However against CSKA Moscow, United's defense was porous at times and continued to allow CSKA to get great scoring opportunities when they decided to attack.

And with Rio Ferdinand and possibly Nemanja Vidic both out due to injury, major questions over Wes Brown and Jonny Evans defensive play will need to be answered if United are to win, as Drogba and Nicolas Anelka have become a dynamic duo, and their offensive play contributes to most of Chelsea's goals.

Adding to these injury woes are the absence of Darren Fletcher and Dimitar Berbatov in this match due to prior injury problems.

But despite all of this, United will have Wayne Rooney ready to start for the Red Devils after the birth of his son on Oct. 3 and by having him back, United will still have a strong attack on the Chelsea goal.

And United know that this is a must-win match for them, as a loss here could Chelsea to control the Premier League title race, as Patrice Evra has already called this the biggest match of the season for United, and Sir Alex Ferguson has made it known to his players that losing cannot be an option.

 

Finally, expect a great match here in the "Battle of England" as both Chelsea and Manchester United will want to win here to establish themselves as the team to beat in the Premier League, but only one side will leave the Bridge with that task accomplished.