Kick off. Match evenly poised. David Luiz gets sent off at ’10 for a two-footed lunge on Rooney. Chelsea dominate the game despite being man down. Man Utd playing like they are more than happy with a draw. 0-0 at half time. Second half is more open. Man Utd finally keen to make their advantage count. Cech has a blinder of a game. Several quarrels and stoppages. At 80’, Mikel gets sent off for a second yellow. 90’. Didier Drogba scores a 35-yard screamer. Man Utd 0-1 Chelsea. The Blue Army and their fans go crazy. Fergie time: 6 minutes. Chelsea running down the clock. Howard Webb keeps looking at his watch and Sir Alex. Finally, at 103’, Nani dives when he felt Ramires’ breath on him. Giggs takes the pen and scores it. As soon as the ball hit the back of the net, Howard Webb blows the final whistle. 1-1. Quite possible, if you ask me.

The biggest game of the season tomorrow. For a brilliant Chelsea performance we have all the pre-requisites and ingredients. Players availability: Check. Motivation: Check. Momentum: Check. Belief: Check. All that we might need to do is to pick the right playing eleven and then the talking will be on the pitch.

The playing eleven for the Man Utd match tomorrow have been selected by YOU!

Actually, my choice of first eleven was: Cech, Terry, David Luiz, Ivanovic, Ashley Cole, Mikel, Ramires, Lampard, Malouda, Torres & Drogba. The opinion poll results were exactly what I had picked except for one change. While I picked Torres, we have chosen Kalou. As we all know, Kalou does better business when he comes off the bench. Plus, Torres has just scored and has been playing well and hence he deserves more time on the pitch. That’s why I chose Torres over Kalou.

I’ve been saying that Essien should be dropped. Looks like most of us do share that view. Essien didn’t get even half the votes of Malouda or Ivanovic or Mikel. That does say something. David Luiz is everyone’s favourite to start this match. About 96% of the voters thought he should start. There’s a reason why we call him the ‘Manchester-Killer’.

Look, we’ve learnt quite a lot in the last few months about our strengths and weaknesses and what works and what doesn’t. We need to put them to good use. What I’ve done is to list down the key messages and instructions that I would give to my first choice playing eleven, if we need to win the match against Man Utd tomorrow. Here we go:
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Petr Cech: Continue your fine form. Beware of crosses coming in. When it comes to crosses, take control rather than expecting your centre backs to deal with the danger. Beware of the Rooney long shot. Just can’t afford to let that shot beat your near post.

John Terry: Captain. Leader. Legend. This is a big match. Old Trafford is no easy place and playing a match of this significance means we might go through patches of confidence-rocking moments during the match. You must keep us going. You ensure that we give our best fight ever.

David Luiz: Keep an eye on the little pea. He’s one clever bastard. They’d target you to provoke a mistake from you. You should know that when teams go to Old Trafford, football becomes a non-contact sport, for the visiting teams. Do those marauding runs. Infuse that energy. When possible, shoot.

Ivanovic: Attack is not your primary duty. We can’t afford to concede. Keep Evra on check. When David Luiz goes on a raid, keep guard at the back. If you get an opportunity to cross, don’t cross unless you’re very confident. Keep the ball on the ground.

Ashley Cole: Attack and defend in equal measures. You’d be on John Terry’s side of the pitch. Trust Terry and Mikel, attack when you can. Don’t look to cross, keep the ball on the ground. When possible, shoot.

Mikel: Don’t get booked in the first half. Distribute the ball as quickly as you can. Look for those defence-splitting passes that we know you can make. Stay on the heels of Man Utd midfielders. Wouldn’t mind if you didn’t step into the final third once all match.

Ramires: Run. Run. Run. Commit Evra to make tackles, force him to make errors. Keep him held back in fear of providing space to you. Make those incisive runs through the centre. Support Mikel.

Lampard: Shoot when you can. Ensure that we don’t try to walk the ball into the net. Make sure that we play direct where required. Find Fernando Torres. Don’t take corners or free kicks.

Malouda: Just do not look for glory. You’re in fine form. See how best you can set up goals and go for goal yourself only when that’s the one and only option. Just in case you’re not looking around, we have a new striker in the team by name Fernando Torres. Find him, feed him. And, track back and help the team. Take the corners.

Fernando Torres: Stay alert. You’ll get your opportunities. Make your chances count. Vidic is never comfortable in your presence. Keep bothering him.

Didier Drogba: You’re the main man. Don’t need to play the winger. You’re the wide centre forward. Earn free kicks at the right areas and take all the free kicks, from whatever distance. Attack in tandem with Ramires. Shoot, whenever possible.

Carlo Ancelotti: Make aggressive subs both in terms of choices and timing. Don’t sub Torres unless he’s totally hopeless. Make aggressive tactical changes where required. Practically (not mathematically), a 1-0 defeat is the same as a 3-0 defeat. Take your risks. This is the final of the premier league.
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Tomorrow, Chelsea might have to come up with their best away performance of the season to come out winners. I think we would win this one. Even if we don’t win, we’d get at least a draw but I don’t see us losing tomorrow. If we do get a draw, it’s not shock horror as we would still be in the hunt for the title but certainly we’d have handed back the initiative to Man Utd.

Here’s my prediction: Man Utd 1-2 Chelsea. And yes,  a little bit of ‘history’!

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