Most fans — as is their wont as fans — hope their side will come good somehow against Chelsea. But rational thinking paints a grim picture. Chelsea, have been good for most of this season — even though they’ve faced reverses against some of the smaller sides. Their transfer ban has been lifted for January, yet theirs is a side showered with riches in midfield, and a frighteningly good Drogba, in frighteningly good form. As much as most of their squad consist of eminently detestable players, they have been annoyingly hard to beat. An astonishing statistic that screams out reads: six years; zero wins for United at the Bridge. Six years! Bloody hell! That’s astonishing and annoying in equal measure.

Among the key players for today’s outing includes one Darren Fletcher, who’s spoken at length about his fitness and gym work in the pre-season:

“Fitness has never been a problem for me, but in terms of strength and power my gym work has made a real difference.

“Striking the right balance is important, too. There’d be no point in me bulking up if that was to the detriment of being able to get around the pitch. I wanted to get to a level where I had strength, but also the stamina to keep going over the 90 minutes. I think I could still put on more weight without affecting my fitness.”

Speaking of our six year drought there, Ferguson has a few words to say:

“We would like to improve our record there. 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.”

The topic veers into discussion on Carlo Ancelotti and the manager has only good things to say about him. “Ancelotti has a very experienced team,” continues Sir Alex. “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.”

On the injury front, Vidic and Berbatov are expected to return, whilst Park, Ferdinand, and Owen Hargreaves continue to be perennial absentees. Neville, meanwhile, is suspended.

The starting XI, should then be a patched up back four with O’Shea, Vidic, Evans, Evra. Giggs, Anderson, Fletcher could form a midfield three with the attack consisting of Rooney (played out wide left), Valencia and Berbatov in the front three.

Of course, that’s just what I think Ferguson might be fielding. He’ll most likely go with a 4-3-3 to counter Chelsea.

Prediction: 1-1

Initially Stoke and Blackburn weren’t part of this, but apparently when the Mail published names of the clubs that had signed in — casting those that hadn’t in inferior light — they joined this campaign. Three clubs — Bolton, Liverpool and Manchester United — continued to stay off this. And they may have their own reasons; United and Liverpool have spoken out about how much they have already done in their charity work etc, for the soldiers in war, and they don’t intend to be part of this. And that’s fair — it’s their own prerogative to choose to be part of an awareness drive or stay away from it.

The Manchester United spokesman said, “We are very proud of the work we do with the armed forces and we do not feel a poppy on the shirt would add to our contribution. Our staff and officials will be wearing them as usual and we are confident we are doing the right thing.”

The problem comes when the Mail article tries by way of some sort of passive-aggressive methods to prove that our clubs are disrespecting the armed forces.

In fact, Charles Sale of the Mail in his piece article openly rebuked the three clubs that didn’t choose to be a part of this campaign.

United’s intransigent and will be all the more exposed by Chelsea, their live TV match opponents on Sunday at Stamford Bridge, always making a great play of their connection with the Chelsea Pensioners on the Remembrance Sunday weekend.

Now I personally wished our clubs did wear a poppy; after all it isn’t too much to ask. But I also think acts of selflessness/charity/benevolence is a personal thing that one is entitled to opt in our out of without having to listen to self-righteous voices from outside forcing someone into doing something. So one can choose to do good in one’s own way. United and Liverpool (and of course, Bolton) have had their managers and staff wear the poppy flower and not the players. Pray, in what way are the clubs doing harm or showing disrespect to the armed forces, by not embroidering the flower on kits?

There is a difference between asking someone to be a part of a cause once, and bullying them into being a part of it if they politely refuse. The Guardian’s Marina Hyde said this best here:

After all, isn’t frothing yourself into demented indignation at the Blackburn squad’s lack of a poppy the very definition of having way too much time to indulge in fatuous rows? It’s redolent of that long-running, now mercifully expired argument about footballers not singing the national anthem in a manner acceptable to whichever Middle Englander wasn’t really watching the game anyway.

The point so often ignored is that the second world war, in particular, was fought to allow people the choice in this and many other matters. Victory meant freedom from fascism, which makes Jon Snow’s choice of words for this annual hounding of any public figure pictured without one – “poppy fascism” – particularly significant.

Indeed. To add to this nonsense we have some guff rolling out of John Terry’s lips:

“They love their football, they like to look up to us but I would like to be in their shoes and do what they do,” Terry said. “It’s great they want to do that and they are brilliant at their job. I would love to [serve], of course. Put your life on the line for the country – I would love to, but I don’t think many of us could.”

I am not one to be judging people, but this one strikes me as a little insincere. Oh I’d love to serve my country. I certainly do! Oh, then John, go on — where were you when they were drafting people for the war? I find it offensive that someone would say such a thing. Why can’t they just say stuff to the effect of I don’t think I have the courage to do what the great men and women laying their lives down for the country are doing?

A little honesty please, John.

I had to get this off my chest. Match preview will be up later.

Further reading on this subject:

The Republik of Mancunia
The Guardian

“Most people now recognise Darren Fletcher as a big-game player,” said Ferguson. “We have been aware of that for quite a while. Now he is getting an acceptance that he is a very important player for us.

“Our fans see that he is a key player in major games. That has been very important to the lad because it gives him a confidence. He has been missed in some key games recently and yes, it is great to have the boy back.”

He also intends, like all managers, to ensure we qualify to the next stage top of the table. [Video here]

He was doubtful about Rio Ferdinand even making it for Chelsea but defended him. I expressed a bit of concern for Ferdinand; his lack of pace in the City game — as well as against Torres — was worrying. But I also had a nagging feeling that he wasn’t playing at 100%. I think if it’s one week, two weeks or one month, it’s better if Ferguson sits him down and lets him take a break. It will do us better in the long term that way.

Meanwhile Michael Owen believes the Champions League could be the stage that would propel him on to England team reckoning.

“I can influence my chances by playing well and performing in the Champions League has to help. But I don’t go to bed thinking if I will play for England again. I think about playing well for Manchester United. The rest will take care of itself.”

As far as our starting XI goes, Rooney would be out. I saw Berbatov limp out of the Blackburn match, and he would be doubtful, with Park and Giggs definitely out. Owen would be upfront alongside perhaps, Welbeck. Valencia and Nani would be on the wings then with Fletcher certain to return in midfield alongside either Anderson or Carrick. Brown and Evans should be in central defence, Evra on the left, and there is a distinct possibility that Ferguson will plump for Neville at right back.

Prediction: 2-0 to United.

According to the spokesman, “Mother and baby are both absolutely fine. Wayne and Coleen are thrilled with the wonderful addition to their family life.” We wish Rooney all the best as a daddy.

Also, the baby must have broken record of sorts as he gets his first fake twitter account within minutes of birth. So far, it’s funny as hell!

Rovers enjoyed a relatively safe passage into the quarter finals of that competition that none of the big guns tend to take very seriously the League Cup themselves on Tuesday night although Saturday should prove a much tougher hurdle for Sam Allardyce and his swine flu-hit charges to negotiate.

With Ferguson guaranteed to reshuffle the pack following the victory over Barnsley, expect atleast eight or nine changes from the team that started at Oakwell. Edwin van der Sar will certainly replace Ben Foster in goal and you would expect that John O’Shea and Patrice Evra will slot back in to the two full-back positions.

Having served his one-match suspension in the Carling Cup, Nemanja Vidic could return to the side although a calf problem renders him a doubt. The much maligned Rio Ferdinand is also struggling with a calf injury so don’t be surprised to see either Jonny Evans or Wes Brown featuring from the start.

In midfield Owen Hargreaves, Park Ji-Sung and Darren Fletcher remain on the sidelines while Ryan Giggs is reportedly struggling with a knee injury. That could see both Nani and Antonio Valencia starting on either flank with Anderson and Michael Carrick forming a central midfield partnership. Gabriel Obertan gave a good account of himself against Mark Robins’ Tykes on Tuesday although a place on the bench looks like the most he can hope for at this very early stage of his United career.

Up top, one would anticipate that Ferguson will opt for the familiar partnership of Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney although Michael Owen will also be in with a shout having took his goal superbly well the other night and generally looked sharp in the limited cameo role he played against Liverpool.

Speaking to the media, Ferguson explained that he is anticipating a difficult encounter with Blackburn, praising the role of Allardyce in picking up the pieces when Mark Hughes departed Ewood Park back in June 2008.

“I saw them recently against Burnley and they played really well in that game,” he said.

“They have always been difficult to beat at Blackburn and I think Sam has built a different team from Mark Hughes’ Blackburn.

“Quite a few decent players have left like David Bentley  and Stephen Warnock  and Sam has had to pick up the thread of what was left and replacing players of that quality was not easy.”

Blackburn are likely to be without Christopher Samba and Jason Roberts who are both suffering from the effects of swine flu and Ferguson moved to insist that United have so far been unaffected by the pandemic.

“It’s an interesting thing. Flu does happen. Whatever you call it, you had Asian flu a couple of years ago with players missing games,” he added.

“Fortunately so far we have been okay.”

Sir Alex may have called for caution ahead of Saturday’s meeting at Old Trafford although anything but a resounding three points would surely fan the flames of the critics even further.

While Sunderland recently caused something of a stir when they deservedly left the Theatre of Dreams with a point, Rovers have only won once in the Premier League at the home of the champions, back in September 2005.

You would hope that the lads will be ready to prove a point following events at Anfield last weekend and with Blackburn’s dismal recent away record in England’s top flight (nine away defeats on the trot), United should be looking to dominate this one from the off.

Prediction: 2-0 United

This year on the FA’s proposed England friendly in Qatar:

‘All the international managers have their jobs to do and we support that, particularly when it comes to the issue of competitive games like the European Championships or the World Cup. It’s very important that these players play for their countries.

‘But friendly games are a different matter. I don’t think that anyone agrees with them if you’re a league coach.

‘I think that some international managers could do without the friendly games themselves, but the football associations from every country warn them that sometimes it’s a nice day for them, a nice trip, a sunny day, and in some cases it creates good revenue for them.’

Last year we had to go to Japan for the World Club championship and were already swamped with fixtures. And we had the tiny little jaunt to Saudi Arabia to play a friendly. Ferguson surely would have expressed similar frustration with that?

“The one thing I am sure about is that this trip won’t do us any harm. We’ve gone to other countries in the past. Sometimes it doesn’t work, you get back and have a bad result, and you can say we should have done this or that. But we’re back on Thursday and that gives us three days to prepare for Tottenham.”

I guess it all boils down to PR, eh?

It’s been eleven years since we last visited Oakwell where Andy Cole and Teddy Sheringham were on target in a 2-0 win. You may or may not be aware that the current Barnsley manager, Mark Robins, once scored a winning goal against Nottingham Forest for United back in 1990 that is widely believed to have saved Sir Alex Ferguson’s bacon at Old Trafford. He certainly hasn’t looked back since.

You would expect that Ferguson is bound to make a plethora of changes for the tie although he should stop short of picking an entirely different eleven to Sunday. Ben Foster or Tomasz Kuszczak will replace Edwin van der Sar in goal and the back four should definitely see starts for both Wes Brown and Jonny Evans. Gary Neville or Rafael could feature at right-back while Fabio may replace Patrice Evra on the left-hand-side of defence despite his red card in the third round against Wolves.

Following Gabriel Obertan’s return from injury, it has been confirmed that he will make his first appearance for the first team. Darron Gibson should definitely vacate a central midfield slot and Darren Fletcher could come in alongside him having missed out in recent weeks through injury.

Magnus Eikrem will be desperate to show what he is all about following a string of polished performances for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s second string although one would suspect he will only make the bench. With Obertan expected to start on the right, Nani or Zoran Tosic will most likely be selected on the left.

With Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen and Dimitar Berbatov all involved against Liverpool, Federico Macheda and Danny Welbeck could be given the chance to impress up top. After a lively debut in the previous round, expect Josh King to appear later on in the game as an impact sub too.

Speaking prior to the match on Tuesday evening, Ferguson has challenged the Reds to prove their credentials by recovering from the defeat to Liverpool.

“Part of the challenge is to get over disappointments,” he said.

“Last season we lost at home 4-1 to Liverpool which was a travesty but we went on to win the league.”

While Sir Alex may be directing his comments more specifically at those who are to be involved against Blackburn this coming weekend, a result against Barnsley will be the first step in the right direction before the vitally important visit of Sam Allardyce’s side. The critics have already surfaced once again despite 10 wins from our previous 12 although anything but a victory against Barnsley and the knives will be sharpened even further.

So what exactly stands in the way of United and a safe passage to the quarter-finals of a competition that has served us so well in recent times? Well Barnsley are struggling in the Championship where they currently sit in 20th place, four points above the relegation spots. Having put together a decent run at the beginning of October, the south Yorkshire club have lost their last two on the spin.

Despite their relatively poor league standing, the Tykes put on an impressive show to knock Burnley out in the last round of the Carling Cup and watch out for Daniel Bogdanovic, the Maltese striker who has scored four goals in eight for Barnsley so far this season.

Prediction: 3-0 United

RoM is running a liveblog

Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed to ManUtd.com on Monday, “He’ll play tomorrow against Barnsley, it’s a good start for him.”

This makes it a hat trick of Liverpool wins and that’s what makes it hard to stomach.

I was a little more sympathetic towards our 4-1 defeat because I felt it was conceded as a result of a lot of individual errors, and didn’t exactly reflect our competitiveness and dominance on the pitch. Yesterday there was little scope for excuses.

I have to commend Ferguson for being brave in his tactics at the start though. He went with a 4-4-2 away from home. It’s great to see the man wanting to go for it with the current ‘mini-crisis’ at Liverpool. However, it seemed obvious as the match wore on — shockingly so — that our midfield weren’t up to it. It’s a recurring theme this season — and will remain true for a while, I’m sure — that our midfield needs muscle. Carrick has regressed this season [decent performances in Europe don't always cut it] and Scholes, with his age, cannot always be trusted to last 60 minutes against the bigger opposition. He’s blown hot and cold this season, and it’s not really his fault that he’s considered the first choice over other prospective members in the midfield.

What was a sad sight however, was to see a midfield of Lucas and Mascherano, not really in his best form so far, dominate the midfield, cutting off the supply lines to our strikers.

Which brings us to our attack. Rooney slaved away up front, but there’s little he could do if he doesn’t get the support he needs. Berbatov is a static player by nature. He needs mobility around him to work. And if that’s not there, then he’ll only inhibit our style. As much as the management will insist he’s fantastic, and classy, and that he doesn’t have to run always, there were moments when trying to bust a gut would have helped. We can make excuses for him and say he’s not getting help. Or we could say he’s not dynamic enough. Either of those points of view means he isn’t necessarily a fit for us. Yet. Berbatov does need help from the midfield, but he doesn’t make it easier either.

Giggs had an off day, and for a 36 year old, he is entitled to have off days. However Valencia on the other side played his heart out. I thought he was a bright spark, both in attack, and defensively. He was unfortunate to hit the bar from a tight angle.

Fernando Torres showed what a striker could do if he worked the channels tirelessly. He beat Ferdinand for pace clearly, but our defensive line had to share part of the blame. Two years ago, Rio had Torres firmly ensconced in his back pocket. The drop in Rio’s pace has been stark this season. However this is not to take any credit away from Torres’s goal.

The talking points undoubtedly will come down to refereeing. I was shocked how Lucas got away the whole match without a card, I won’t however make a big deal about Giggs being nudged in the area. Carragher’s tackle on Carrick was a dead-on penalty, but we could make the same case of Kuyt being brought down by Berbatov in the area. I thought Vidic’s first yellow was a bit soft although we’ve seen them given in the past, whilst Carragher should have seen red for bringing down Owen. None of them however was game changing, potentially. Arsenal fans, earlier in the season, would have been aggrieved at Fletcher getting away with a lot of fouls in that game, but we saw very little reason to complain then. I can’t see why we should now.

We’ve been Champions for three seasons in a row, and many more times in Ferguson’s tenure. And much of that is because we’ve made our own luck. Yesterday wasn’t even close to that day, and how we bounce back has a lot to do with how the players view yesterday’s defeat. The positives to take from yesterday, however, is everyone in the top four (or close to it, barring Chelsea) — Arsenal, Spurs, Man City — have dropped points. And that’s some portion of luck we’ll have to take and make full use of.