Chapter 196: The temperature of the battle at the top of the list

The match between Manchester United and Chelsea is the most eye-catching contest in this round of the Premier League, and almost the whole world is watching this game.

It will be a game for Manchester United to cement their place at the top of the table and they will certainly be looking to beat Chelsea at home to close the gap on their rivals.

This season's Premier League, Manchester United is under much more pressure than last season, last season's Premier League, even Leicester City can occupy the second place in the standings, you can imagine how bad the performance of several strong teams except Manchester United is, but this season is different, several strong teams seem to be collectively awakening, Liverpool is now in fourth place, Manchester City's score is eight points higher than the same period last season, they now theoretically still have the hope of competing for the title, and Arsenal although not in the top four, But they also picked up more points than they did last season.

As a result, the pressure on Manchester United in the league this season is still very high, and now they are only three points behind them.

And more importantly, Chelsea now has no European tasks, in the FA Cup, they have also been eliminated, so Chelsea now only have one line of league games to play, on the other hand, Manchester United, in order to replace the FA Cup and the Champions League, the league has also moved a lot of events in February, which has led to Manchester United in February The competition is very intensive.

Manchester United had just returned to Manchester from Turin, and although they were playing at home, it was Chelsea who had simply found a closed stadium in Manchester to train for the game, and their hotel was only four kilometres from Old Trafford.

It's fair to say that Chelsea have been waiting for Manchester United for a long time.

“...... We're resting longer than Manchester United, which is our advantage and we'll have the upper hand physically. Even though it's an away game, I think Chelsea have a good chance of beating Manchester United and we've been preparing for that for a whole week! Conte said in an interview that the Italian said with confidence.

Antonio Conte's confidence is not out of the question, with Angel Di Maria and Ander Herrera missing out on this game, and it is unclear how much form the Reds will be able to recover after a big game away at Juventus.

Chelsea, on the other hand, are now fully staffed, they have no injury concerns and they have a couple of extra days to rest than Manchester United.

Regarding Conte's claims, Ancelotti was noncommittal.

'Conte thinks his team will have the advantage, I don't have much to say about that, it's not a game of words, it's going to end up on the pitch. As for United's fitness, despite the absence of Ander Herrera and Angel Di Maria, I can say 100 per cent that we have no fitness problems, we are at the top of the table and we are at the top of the table after the game. ”

Both managers look confident.

And the time for the game is approaching, and the fans are looking forward to this game more and more.

The BBC conducted interviews with fans in Manchester and west London.

Chelsea fans are optimistic that a busy Manchester United will definitely suffer their second defeat of the season.

"Two to zero! Chelsea two, Manchester United zero!! ”

A Chelsea fan swears in front of the camera.

'We can definitely keep a clean sheet against them and then win and finish in the standings!'

"But Chelsea's goal difference is a bit too much?!" The reporter said jokingly.

"Then we can also complete the comeback."

"I think we'll win 2-1 because Li Qingshan might score!" Another Chelsea fan pushed his glasses with a serious expression.

And in Manchester, Manchester United fans are just as confident.

"We're going to blow them up!! Absolute!!! ”

"Li Qingshan is too fierce, Chelsea will definitely not be able to stop it!!"

Manchester United fans don't think their home team will lose...

.....

The matchup between the first and second in the league has always been the focus of everyone's attention, and the media has also paid great attention to this game.

As the media heated up the atmosphere of the battle between the two sides to a certain extent, the game is finally about to begin.

By the time the Manchester United players took the bus to Old Trafford, the fans had gathered around the pitch.

It's a league title game, so the number of fans it attracts is extraordinarily high.

Most fans were not able to get tickets for this match, except for fans with annual passes, fans who need to buy bulk tickets will be in trouble this time, because the tickets for the game are too sought-after.

But it doesn't matter if you don't get a ticket to get in, as a large crowd of United fans crowd around the team's bus, chanting slogans.

This time there are a lot of fans from London, a large number of police officers are on duty outside the stadium to maintain order, in the case of so many people pouring into the vicinity of Old Trafford, Manchester's security department is also quite nervous, after all, some time ago in various terrorist attacks in various parts of Europe, so that EU countries are highly nervous, in such a densely populated area, security work is the most headache for government departments.

"There are so many people..."

Lingard sighed as he looked out the window at the crowd.

"Oh... I feel like the whole of Manchester is coming to the city..."

Marcus Rashford also smashed his mouth.

Li Qingshan took off his headphones and listened to the hustle and bustle outside the car window, for such a scene, in fact, Li Qingshan could also predict that this is a key battle for the top of the list after all, as long as he wins this game, Manchester United can basically lock up the Premier League championship this season!

Now that the league is over with a few games left, it is impossible for Manchester United to be overturned by their opponents when they are six points ahead!

This is probably the largest number of people at Old Trafford in recent years, from the training base to Old Trafford, all the way to the street is densely packed with people, red fans gathered into a torrent, from all directions, flocking to Old Trafford.

What made the police nervous the most was that when the home team fans and the away team fans met each other in the stadium, the police stared nervously at the fans on both sides, clenching the batons and shields in their hands, for fear that there would be any violent clashes between the fans on both sides.

In the end, this scene did not happen, and everyone just shouted and cursed through the wall formed by two rows of police, and did not continue to act.

After scolding, each went his own way.