Manchester United will find themselves a gaping NINE points behind Chelsea should they lose to the high flying Londoners on Sunday.

That´s the nightmare scenario for manager Sir Alex Ferguson who takes his side that fortress of a venue, Stamford Bridge, this weekend.

The Londoners boast and unbeaten record of 84 home Premier League matches. Indeed, Roman Abramovich´s club haven´t suffered a league defeat at the Bridge since losing to Arsenal in February 2004.

If United are to make any impact they will need to produce a far better performance than they did in losing 2-1 at Liverpool last Saturday.

But it doesn´t look good. Nemanja Vidic is suspended and that means we will see a makeshift centre half in the form of Gary Neville or Wes Brown next to defensive mainstay Rio Ferdinand.

Chelsea, on the other hand, are in fine fettle. Their 4-0 win over Bordeaux on Tuesday is further evidence that Felipe Scolari´s men are starting to fire on all cylinders.

That´s a scary prospect and one that should alert punters to take those football odds of 5/4 for Chelsea to avenge their Champions League final defeat with victory.

totesport´s online betting lists Nicolas Anelka at 6/1 to score the first goal and given his last minute strike against the French outfit in midweek that´s a punt well worth a dash.

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