Lampard urges Chelsea to win at Old Trafford
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AP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ocak 10, 2009 00:00
LONDON - Chelsea may be just three points behind leader Liverpool, but Luiz Felipe Scolari hopes an impressive display at Manchester United on Sunday will inject fresh energy into his side's title bid, while preventing the defending champion from closing in on the pacesetter.
A recent Blues slump - including draws at Fulham and West Ham - has seen Chelsea drop 11 points from a possible 21 and even raised questions over Scolari's future.
"We have dropped a few points lately but we have it within our means to beat them (Manchester United)," midfielder Frank Lampard said. "We have broken down their defense quite a few times over the years. We just have to play our own game."
"We need to go there with a real air of confidence," he added. "We have the players to beat United. We have shown that before and we have to show it again."
Chelsea has lost just twice against United in their previous 16 meetings, including the Champions League final in May.
Scolari has had his players working on defending set pieces ahead of the Old Trafford trip after the team conceded valuable goals from them in recent matches.
"The errors have been very frustrating for everyone involved because we do work on them in training anyway," Lampard said. "Sometimes it has been an individual error or a collective one, but it has been very important because we have dominated the last two games and we lost out on a set piece in the final minute each time. We can't afford to let that happen against a team of Manchester United's caliber."
Manchester United is third in the Premier League, trailing Liverpool by seven points, but has two games in hand over the top two.
And the picture could look very different by Wednesday. If it beats Chelsea and then Wigan in midweek, Alex Ferguson's team will be two points ahead of Scolari's men with another game in hand. That puts the pressure on Liverpool to avoid a repeat of its 0-0 Anfield stalemate with Stoke when it travels to the Potteries on Saturday.
"Each point will be really important for us in the race for the title," Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva said. "We have confidence and we have quality. We feel we can beat anyone."
Particularly a team in the relegation zone.
"In the game at Anfield we had about 70 percent of the possession but it was really difficult to break them down because they were really narrow," Lucas said. "We know they are a physical team to play against and they have a real threat from (Rory Delap's) long throw-ins, which is always dangerous."
"We have dropped a few points lately but we have it within our means to beat them (Manchester United)," midfielder Frank Lampard said. "We have broken down their defense quite a few times over the years. We just have to play our own game."
"We need to go there with a real air of confidence," he added. "We have the players to beat United. We have shown that before and we have to show it again."
Chelsea has lost just twice against United in their previous 16 meetings, including the Champions League final in May.
Scolari has had his players working on defending set pieces ahead of the Old Trafford trip after the team conceded valuable goals from them in recent matches.
"The errors have been very frustrating for everyone involved because we do work on them in training anyway," Lampard said. "Sometimes it has been an individual error or a collective one, but it has been very important because we have dominated the last two games and we lost out on a set piece in the final minute each time. We can't afford to let that happen against a team of Manchester United's caliber."
Manchester United is third in the Premier League, trailing Liverpool by seven points, but has two games in hand over the top two.
And the picture could look very different by Wednesday. If it beats Chelsea and then Wigan in midweek, Alex Ferguson's team will be two points ahead of Scolari's men with another game in hand. That puts the pressure on Liverpool to avoid a repeat of its 0-0 Anfield stalemate with Stoke when it travels to the Potteries on Saturday.
"Each point will be really important for us in the race for the title," Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva said. "We have confidence and we have quality. We feel we can beat anyone."
Particularly a team in the relegation zone.
"In the game at Anfield we had about 70 percent of the possession but it was really difficult to break them down because they were really narrow," Lucas said. "We know they are a physical team to play against and they have a real threat from (Rory Delap's) long throw-ins, which is always dangerous."