Chelsea vs Manchester United preview - Lampard may figure for Blues

Posted Saturday, January 18, 2014 by PA

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard could return from a calf injury for Sunday's Barclays Premier League clash with Manchester United.

Right-back Branislav Ivanovic only returned to training on Friday following a knee problem and is unlikely to figure.

New signing Nemanja Matic has been added to the squad but boss Jose Mourinho has said he will not start.

Mourinho refuses to sympathise with David Moyes as he believes the struggling United boss' position is secure for the duration of his contract.

Mourinho is targeting his 100th Premier League victory when the ailing champions - who were also the victims of his first win in that sequence in 2004 - visit Stamford Bridge.

While Chelsea are in the midst of what appears to be a three-way title race involving Arsenal and Manchester City, United are 11 points adrift of the summit.

Floundering in seventh place, they may even fail to qualify for next season's Champions League with a five-point gap having opened up to fourth.

Moyes signed a six-year contract when he replaced Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer and Mourinho insists he will be given that time to build his own Old Trafford dynasty.

"I don't think there is a reason to have sympathy for David Moyes because he has a fantastic job," Mourinho said.

"He's very, very stable. The club gave him incredible trust when they chose him to be the next Manchester United manager after Sir Alex.

"It's a club with a fantastic culture. They believe in stability and the power of the manager. They believe in supporting the manager.

"Because they had a couple of bad results and they are not top of the league or as close to Manchester United as normal, (these) are not reasons for David to be in trouble.

"I think David is very stable and will have the time of his contract to build a team to achieve success and be there for many years.

"I don't think he's in trouble to have sympathy with, so no problems."

Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie will again be missing for United.

Rooney (groin) has at least started running again, whilst Van Persie (thigh) should return to training on Monday after nearly six weeks on the sidelines.

"Wayne is looking quite good. He has done a lot of strengthening work around his groin but he won't be available for the game on Sunday," said Moyes..

"I don't want to say he'll be fit for whatever game and then find he's not, but hopefully we can get him back as quickly as we can because he is an important player.

"It will be a great boost for us all if we can get Robin back out on the grass because he is a player we've missed."