No one is expecting Chelsea to get a result at Old Trafford during our FA Cup quarter final tomorrow as the Red Devils have been tipped to bounce back from their Champions League exit at the hands of former Blue Jose Mourinho and his Real Madrid side, but I don’t think there is a better time for the West London club to attempt to enact some revenge for our 3-2 defeat at Stamford Bridge and compound United’s misery as their hopes for a treble have already been dashed.
Oriol Romeu is our only long-term absentee. Demba Ba, Victor Moses, Nathan Ake and Ramires are all likely to return to the squad after missing out against Steaua Bucharest on Thursday night, which was one of the worst performances I have ever seen from a bunch of players that didn’t even bother pretending to give a shit.
As for the opposition, everyone’s favourite family man and role model Ryan Giggs is to be rested and his fellow elder statesman Paul Scholes is also out with a knee injury. Phil Jones will also be missing as he has a back ankle and finds it difficult managing the weight of his chin at the best of times. I’m guessing Antonio Valencia is more likely to replace Giggs than serial diver Ashley Young as the Ecuadorian has got the better of Ashley Cole in the past, but so has everyone else this season.
I’m looking forward to the game despite the usual doom and gloom that has followed us around this season and a win over the Premier League champions to be would be the perfect tonic on the road to recovery and let’s face it, we’re fast running out of opportunities to turn our season around. And it isn’t like we haven’t bounced back against the big sides before, March 1st 2001 Carlo Ancelotti’s infamous ‘bad moment’ was put to an end after a win over United at Stamford Bridge.
Form doesn’t matter in cup ties, or so they say, but a positive result can lift the mood so let’s hope it is a good day for the Blues.
