Sir Alex Ferguson Hoping Manchester United Reverse Recent Record At Chelsea

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is looking to remedy an underwhelming run of form at Chelsea that stretches back ten games. In that time, the current Premier League title holders have recorded just a solitary win, and have returned to Old Trafford pointless on five occasions.

Prior to that, United enjoyed a superiority over the Blues, and Ferguson has issued a warning to Carlo Ancelotti and his west Londoners that the Red Devils will be doing all they can to ensure it is Chelsea who leave the Stamford Bridge turf without a point.

"We would like to improve our record there," Ferguson told the club's official website. "It’s not been that great in the last few years. We’ve had a couple of draws but nothing more than that. We hope to improve on that.

"It’s strange, we used to have a terrific record at Stamford Bridge, but in the last few years we’ve let it slip. We have to get our act together. But the players realise it’s a big game and that their performance is going to be important."

Pundits have discussed the possibility of an early "title-decider", but Ferguson insists this will not be the case, despite the importance of the match both in terms of the shape of the league ladder and the psychological factor.

"It doesn’t come into my thinking that it is a league decider, but it could be an important game. Towards the end of the season, you might think, 'I’m glad we got a result at Chelsea'. But it’s difficult to pinpoint the importance of Sunday in relation to where we’ll be in May."

Regarding his opposite number on Sunday, the Scotsman said: "Ancelotti was a great coach at AC Milan and he’s brought a wealth of experience to Chelsea. He was also a terrific player. With his knowledge of the game, I thought he would do well. What he has done is to bring a different system to Chelsea. It seems to have done well for him.

"Ancelotti has a very experienced team and when you have that it’s maybe easier to adapt to new tactics or a new system because those players have more tactical knowledge than younger players."

Alan Dawson, Goal.com UK