Wayne Rooney  vs John Terry

England’s golden boy up against England’s captain. Rooney destroyed Sheffield United but looked ineffective against Wee Gordon’s Celtic. Terry’s been his usual imposing self this season, though he may have exhausted his reportoire of rousing team talks trying to get England out of their current
funk.

Terry has the strength to rough Rooney up a bit and stop him playing, and the boy usually gets frustrated when this happens, losing either his touch or his temper (or both). But if Tabloid Wayne can drop deep enough to avoid Captain John, then Chelsea better look out.

Louis Saha vs Ricardo Carvalho

Terry and Rooney may be the battle in the spotlight, but this clash between their underrated partners is key to the John Wayne tussle. Saha’s pace is the key to pinning defenders back and opening up space for Rooney to play in, so if Carvalho can keep the Frenchman subdued he’ll nullify United’s attacking threat. Wonder if Saha will take any penalties?

Cristiano Ronaldo vs Ashley Cole

These two ever-popular young men have already had some great encounters on the international scene. Cole handled Ronaldo well in the Euro 2004 game, but the Portuguese trickster has matured (sort of) and improved since then and is currently enjoying the form of his life. Cole is better defensively than he gets credit for, but his form has been pretty dreadful since his big tabloid extravaganza transfer from Arsenal to Chelsea. Chelsea would be better off with William Gallas for this game.


Ryan Giggs vs Khalid Boulahrouz

The veteran winger versus the man still finding his feet in England. The Cannibal often looks like a central defender playing out of position (something Gallas also did better) and Giggs's good form coupled with Boulahrouz's recent patchiness would suggest Ryan roasting the Dutchman. But don’t forget that this Dutchman had Ronaldinho in his pocket not so long ago.

Michael Carrick vs Claude Makelele

As holding midfielders, this isn’t even a contest. Makelele is head and shoulders above Carrick as an anchorman (though head and shoulders below him height-wise). Both love the sideways pass, but whereas the little Frenchman is dependably unadventurous, the Geordie has the ability to ping that killer through-ball.

Paul Scholes vs Frank Lampard

Ginger hair excepted, these are two surprisingly similar players. Both love the late, well-timed run into the box and both can lash a ball past a despairing keeper from distance. The difference is that Scholes is looking composed and full of confidence, while Lampard is half the man he was last season.

Roy Keane vs Michael Essien

Essien is a monster right now. Seems like he’s everything a modern midfielder should be. Strong, fast, fierce, box to box, tackles, rampages forward. Essien is the new Roy Keane, and what a ding-dong that would have made for if they went head to head. Unfortunately Keane is retired and busy managing Sunderland. United have never replaced him and they might regret it on Sunday.

Rio Ferdinand vs Andriy Shevchenko

For £60 million worth of talent, this is one frustratingly patchy match up. Both players have undoubted quality, but one of them doesn’t seem interested enough to concentrate for a whole 90 minutes, and the other isn’t hitting his previous goalscoring heights. If one has an off day and the other an on day, this could be lop-sided.

Nemanja Vidic vs Didier Drogba

Both these players are in great form. Drogba might be the best forward in the world right now, and Vidic has been adding a few headed goals to go with his rock-solid defending (he’s probably the new Jaap Stam defending wise). Should be titanic, but Chelsea will be hoping Drogba’s ankle injury isn’t too serious.

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