No time to rest
Following their FA Cup success [2-0 for Man Utd at Huddersfield, 4-0 for Chelsea against Hull City], both English will face Spanish clubs in the Champions League Round 16 before the Premier League clash between the two English club next Sunday.
English club have fare well so far in the competition. Manchester United against FC Sevilla and especially Chelsea against FC Barcelona have exciting challenges this week before facing each other. Make sure to review all Manchester United vs Chelsea betting odds before the match of the day on Sunday.
Manchester United is favorite
The Red Devils will defy FC Sevilla and Jose Mourinho can count on his team’s fire power to overcome the Spaniard. The coach comments on the Cup win while Champions League tie is around the corner:
“We knew that it would be difficult. It was hard but we started really well. With that second goal in the second half, I think we killed the game and, from that moment, we were in control. Good counter-attacks, twice attacking the space well. Twice cold in front of the keeper, good decisions, good shots, good goals, important goals from us.
“I didn’t rest anyone other than [David] De Gea,” he stressed. “Can we recover some of them for Wednesday [against Sevilla]? I think [Marcus] Rashford, [Ander] Herrera, [Antonio] Valencia have a chance.
“I don’t know about Paul. I said before the game I was told by the doctor this morning he was not coming. We had a good tactical session yesterday and then have to prepare a new team. Just as a curiosity, Carrick was the one who replaced Paul. Paul was going to play on the left side in a 4-3-3. Matic was going to play as a no.6 with Scott on the right. So we moved Matic to the left, not his favorite position, and Michael to a positional six. Now is the time to think about Paul and to know what happened and why he didn’t feel good enough to play and can he be available to help us on Wednesday. Now is the time to wait for information.
[Marcos] Rojo, [Phil] Jones, [Marouane] Fellaini, Zlatan [Ibrahimovic], I don’t think they have any chance.”
Chelsea need to play best football
If Chelsea want to have any chance to beat FC Barcelona in the Champions League, they will have to play their best football, similar to the level they had last year. FC Barcelona is the undisputed La Liga leader and comes to London as heavy favorite.
Chelsea coach, Antonio Conte knows the big task ahead:
“For sure we are talking about one of the best teams in the world. We have to try to have the perfect game and to make the best decisions also for this type of team, because this is a different opponent. They have a fantastic characteristic with the ball. They can have the weakness without the ball and we have to try and exploit this.
We must have great respect, but at the same time we have to try to be excited to play this type of game. On the one hand, you know that this team is one of the best teams in the world and maybe they are favorites to win this competition. On the other hand, I think that we must be excited, because we have a great opportunity to play a massive game against a really strong team, and to show what is our level.”
