Friday, August 6, 2010

Premier duo set for Shield clash

FA Community Shield: Chelsea v Man Utd
Venue: Wembley Stadium Date: Sunday, 8 August 2010 Kick-off: 1500 BST
Coverage: BBC Sport website, BBC Radio 5 live and Sky Sports 1

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Ancelotti aiming to start season on a high


Sir Alex Ferguson believes Chelsea will be Manchester United's biggest obstacle to winning the Premier League ahead of Sunday's Community Shield clash.

"They won the league and FA Cup last year and I do think you have to see the team that won the league as the ones you look at," said the United manager.

United's Michael Carrick, Anderson, Patrice Evra and Rio Ferdinand are out.

Chelsea have named their first XI, with Didier Drogba on the bench but Petr Cech, Alex and Jose Boswinga are out.

Hilario will stand in for Czech goalkeeper Cech for Carlo Ancelotti's men, with Salomon Kalou, Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda in attack.

"I think that the players that came back [from the World Cup] are not 100% fit but they need to play," said Ancelotti.

"For this reason the Portuguese players and the English players are able to play and I will put them on the pitch on Sunday."

Sir Alex Ferguson
There is no point pushing players too early

United boss Ferguson

Meanwhile, Ferguson revealed that England striker Wayne Rooney and former international team-mate Michael Owen will feature during the match.

"Rooney and Owen definitely need to play 45 minutes on Sunday," said the 68-year-old manager.

Owen suffered a serious hamstring injury on the much-maligned Wembley turf during the League Cup final against Aston Villa last season. It scuppered his hopes of making the England World cup squad.

The 30-year-old striker is hoping he comes away from Sunday's trip to north London injury free.

"They were there doing something on the pitch when I was at Wembley recently," Owen said.

"Something new has been installed which means 10% of the turf is now synthetic. Hopefully it makes it better because the Wembley pitch must have had something to do with my injury.

606: DEBATE

"I wasn't the only injury to come out of that game. There were quite a lot of other injured players. That is the worrying bit.

"If it had just been me you could say it was a freak accident."

With Rooney and central defender Nemanja Vidic having played at the World Cup during the summer, Ferguson said he would have to be extra careful as to how much involvement those players would have on Sunday, ahead of another Premier League campaign.

"We always take the long view," said Ferguson.

"There is no point pushing players too early, so I don't think we will get the benefit of these players until the third week of the season.

"The World Cup is probably the pinnacle of a lot of players' careers. The intensity and profile of it means it does take a lot out of them and we have to give them a proper rest.

"It does mean early in the season there is a little bit of risk in terms of knowing players are 100% ready to be involved in these games."

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti
We want to do our best - United could be the most important opponent this season

Chelsea manager Ancelotti

Unlike Ferguson, Ancelotti was keen to underline the importance of setting down a marker for the rest of the season by winning the Wembley encounter.

Chelsea won last season's curtain-raiser against United on penalties and then went on to win the league title by a single point.

"I think that it is an important game for both teams, because it is a very important marker for the season. It's never an easy game against Manchester United," said the Italian.

"We want to do our best - Manchester United could be our most important opponent this season, like they were last season.

Having lost their last four pre-season friendlies, Ancelotti added: "We need to win because we have lost too many games - we are not happy. We have to win and start the season well."


Chelsea (team): Hilario, Ivanovic, Terry, Ferreira, Cole, Essien, Lampard, Mikel, Kalou, Anelka, Malouda.

Man Utd: To follow

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