The top two in England
face each other for the title of best in
Europe in the first ever all English
final. After clinching the Premiership
last week United will feel they have the
psychological advantage, but it was
Chelsea who were victorious in the last
meeting between these two just 3 weeks
ago.
A late Michael Ballack
penalty at Stamford Bridge helped secure
victory over United that day, as Chelsea
reversed the result from Old Trafford
earlier in the season, which United had
won 2-0. However, this is the first time
the teams have ever met in Europe, and
Chelsea will be up against a United team
that is undefeated in this years
competition, winning nine and drawing
three of their 12 European games.
.
 Chelsea
managed to break out of Liverpool’s semi
final stranglehold over them, finally
defeating the Reds in a Champions League
semi final at the third attempt. The 4-3
aggregate victory was secured thanks to
extra time goals from Lampard and Drogba, as
the Blues scraped past Liverpool to claim a
place in their first Champions League final.
Chelsea had ridden their luck in the first
leg, only avoiding defeat thanks to a 95th
minute Riise own goal in a game that
Liverpool had largely dominated.
That goal proved to be crucial as Ryan
Babel’s second leg goal 3 minutes from the
end of extra time left Chelsea fans praying
for the final whistle. John Terry is back to
lead Chelsea out, having recovered from the
elbow injury he picked up in Chelsea’s final
league game against Bolton, while Didier
Drogba and Ricardo Carvalho have also
overcome minor knocks to take their place in
the travelling squad.
United are looking to repeat their historic
League and European Cup double of 1999, and
confidence will be sky high after they
secured their tenth Premiership title at
Wigan last week. That followed a nervous
semi final victory over Barcelona at Old
Trafford, Paul Scholes 14th minute goal the
only thing separating the teams across the
two legs.
That goal must have been a relief to
Cristiano Ronaldo following his penalty miss
in the first leg at the Nou Camp that looked
to have handed Barcelona the advantage. His
miss could have been crucial in such a tight
tie between two evenly matched teams, but
United’s nerve held to see them through to
the final again. United go into the game
with no injury concerns, with the only
decision facing Sir Alex is how best to fit
all of United superstars into the starting
eleven.
Betfair offer a
free £25 bet on this game
and I'm on Man Utd @ 2.66.
The signs are not good coming out of
Chelsea at the moment, with Didier Droga
indicating he wants to play for AC Milan
next season, and with Avram Grant once again
telling the press that his job is not
secure, I think Utd will be in the better
state of mind coming into the game. It will
be tight, but Utd to nick it 1-0
Ferguson to emulate the team of 1999 and
bring the double back to Old Trafford.
© Free-Bets.uk 2008
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