Chelsea seek revenge or bust against Man United

LONDON, (Reuters) – Chelsea must avenge their 2008  Champions League final defeat by Manchester United or face a  trophyless season if they lose the all-English quarter-final  which starts at Stamford Bridge today (1845 GMT).

Defeat for Chelsea, 11 points behind United in the Premier  League title race with eight games to play, would put manager  Carlo Ancelotti under huge pressure less than a year after he  led the team to a league and FA Cup double.

The Italian knows his future is on a knife-edge after an  uneven season and recent history between the two clubs suggests  that the Champions League tie, which concludes at Old Trafford  next Tuesday, will be decided by the slimmest of margins.

Only two of their last 11 competitive matches have been  settled by more than one goal, while their most famous meeting,  the Champions League final in Moscow, went to penalties.

Chelsea go into the match with a good record at home against  United. They are unbeaten in their last 10 matches against Alex  Ferguson’s men, including last month’s Premier League game when  they came from behind to win 2-1 with a goal from David Luiz and  a Frank Lampard penalty.

Chelsea’s front men, however, have been lacklustre with  Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka, Salomon Kalou and Fernando Torres  scoring just three goals in their last nine matches.

NO GOALS

Torres, two months after his 50 million-pound  ($80.81-million) move from Liverpool, is still looking for his  first goal for Chelsea after eight appearances, and might start  on the bench.

Chelsea drew 1-1 at Stoke City on Saturday, though they  played better than the result suggested, and Ancelotti is  looking forward to today’s game.

“The condition of the players is good psychologically and  physically. We don’t have any problems and we are ready to play  United. We have the confidence to do our best and win,” he said.

“We know that United have the same opinion. It will be a  very exciting game, a very tough game. We know everything about  Manchester United and they know everything about us. Whoever  deserves to win, will win.”

United recovered from trailing 2-0 to win 4-2 at West Ham  United where Wayne Rooney scored a hat-trick and Javier  Hernandez the other goal.

Saturday’s victory at West Ham left United seven points  clear of Arsenal at the top of the table. Defender Chris Smalling, whose trip on Yuri Zhirkov led to  the penalty that cost United the league game at Stamford Bridge,  said the mood in Manchester was confident.

“Those things happen in your career…and it’s important how  you react, and we’ve kicked on with our performances. We’re now  going into today’s game with a lot of confidence — and so  we should.”

Teams (possible):

Chelsea: 1-Petr Cech; 3-Ashley Cole, 26-John Terry, 33-Alex,  17-Jose Bosingwa; 7-Ramires, 8-Frank Lampard, 5-Michael Essien,  15-Florent Malouda; 11-Didier Drogba, 39-Nicolas Anelka

Manchester United: 1-Edwin Van der Sar; 2-Fabio da Silva,  15-Nemanja Vidic, 12-Chris Smalling, 3-Patrice Evra, 25-Antonio  Valencia, 16-Michael Carrick, 18-Paul Scholes, 11-Ryan Giggs,  17-Nani 10-Wayne Rooney

Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain)