Champions Chelsea will be out to show leaders Manchester United that they are over their slump and true title contenders when the two sides clash at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
The London side are fourth after a run of five Premier League games without a win, a run of form that has seen them drop three points behind an unbeaten United side, who sit two points clear of Arsenal and Manchester City, with a game in hand.
However, United have not won at Chelsea in any competition since 2002 and Chelsea captain John Terry believes their performance against Tottenham last weekend, when they drew 1-1, showed that things are improving once more.
“I’m hoping this is the end of it,” Terry said. “We’ve gone through a blip, as we’ve seen other teams do.
“We’ve got a massive home game and it’s important now the fans stay with us, even through a bad spell in the game of 10 or 15 minutes, because when you play against a quality side, they are bound to have a good spell of possession.
“As long as we stay solid on the pitch the fans stay with us, I’m sure playing like this; we’re going to be back.” Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti is hoping that Frank Lampard will be fit to play from the start against United having returned from injury as a substitute against Tottenham.
United, meanwhile, will be out to make it two wins in a week against their title rivals, having edged out Arsenal 1-0 on Monday night. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson was delighted with his side’s display against Arsenal and is relishing the prospect of another heavyweight clash.
“It is a massive game now,” he said. “We used to have a terrific record at Chelsea, but not so much over the last few years and we haven’t won there for eight years.
“But it’s a big game for us and we’ll be ready for it. We couldn’t get there sooner. We’ve got good players and they have all had big game experience for years now. Their experience is very important and the desire is still there with this club.”
