TEAM NEWS

Manchester United manager David Moyes must decide whether to include Wayne Rooney in his starting line-up against a club who are trying to sign him.

Rafael (hamstring) is out for a month, with Nani (groin), Ashley Young (ankle) and Javier Hernandez (hamstring) not expected to be involved.

Chelsea's Brazilian defender David Luiz is a doubt because of a hamstring problem.

Blues boss Jose Mourinho may start Romelu Lukaku in attack.

MATCH PREVIEW

So on the tenth day of this new Premier League season comes the first big summit meeting - the first coming together of two of last season's top four.

And of course the firsts also keep coming for Manchester United's new manager David Moyes - this is his bow with his new club at Old Trafford in the league. And as he himself pointed out, he was not done any favours when the fixture computer served up Jose Mourinho's new Chelsea as his team's opponents.

LAWRO'S PREDICTION

"For Manchester United, David Moyes will not want Chelsea to come and win at Old Trafford in his first home game in charge.

"Because of that, he will be a bit cagier than normal. The last thing he wants is for Chelsea to win and be top of the table with nine points, six clear of United, because he would be seriously chasing them if that happened."

Mourinho has been down a similar path. Nine years ago to the month, in his first coming as the Chelsea manager, his first competitive match in charge was against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea won on that day with a first-half goal from Eidur Gudjohnsen against a United team which included Eric Djemba-Djemba, Quinton Fortune and Liam Miller in the starting line up. Nine months later, Chelsea were champions of England for the first time for fifty years.

Wayne Rooney will doubtless be a central figure regardless of whether he starts the match, is a substitute or is nowhere to be seen.

Rumour has it that Chelsea will make a third offer for Rooney after this game is out of the way. The fact is that David Moyes has steadfastly maintained the position that Rooney will not be sold.

And who will be Mourinho's choice for Chelsea up front? Fernando Torres sat out their league game against Aston Villa last Wednesday, but he's not started either of their two matches against Manchester United at Old Trafford since perpetrating the most glaring of misses in front of the Stretford End when Andre Villas Boas' Chelsea were beaten 3-1 almost two years ago.

I have a feeling that when we see David Moyes in the home dug-out for this one it will be the time when it finally hits home that the Old Trafford guard has truly changed.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

  • Last season in the Premier League, Chelsea won at Old Trafford (1-0) and Manchester United won at Stamford Bridge (3-2).
  • In 42 Premier League matches between the two clubs, there have only been three goalless draws (April 1995; December 1998; May 2007).
  • United have won 13 of those 42 Premier League matches; Chelsea have won 14. And there have been 15 draws.
  • The highest-scoring match between the two clubs was a 6-5 Manchester United win (in the old Division One) at Stamford Bridge in October 1954.

Manchester United

  • Manchester United lost three Premier League games at Old Trafford last season - their highest number of league losses at home since 2003-04.
  • Since January 2011, Robin van Persie has scored 76 Premier League goals. That's 27 more than any other player (Wayne Rooney on 49). With 124 goals, he is now 12th in the Premier League all-time scorers' list - one ahead of Nicolas Anelka, Dwight Yorke and Jermain Defoe (123).
  • Against Swansea last weekend, Danny Welbeck scored twice (on his 100th English league career appearance) to end a run of 19 Premier League games without a goal. He scored just one Premier League goal last season.

Chelsea

  • Frank Lampard has missed two of his last three penalties in competitive games after scoring the previous 10 in a row.
  • However, Lampard scored his eighth goal in the opening game of a season (against Hull last weekend), equalling Alan Shearer's Premier League record. He was also playing in his 18th opening match of a Premier League season, which is a new Premier League record.
  • Eden Hazard created six goal-scoring chances against Hull - more than any other top-flight player on the opening weekend.