Always foolish to get carried away with pre-season results but Chelsea’s extremely disappointing run of form cannot be ignored ahead of Sunday and they are readily opposed in the Community Shield.
Having completed the domestic double in 2010, Chelsea face Premier League runners-up Manchester United at Wembley and it is the perfect way to kick-off the new campaign in style.
Under a month since England exited the World Cup with such a whimper, some of the villains from South Africa are set to take to the famous turf and all eyes will be on the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole in blue.
Wayne Rooney will also get the chance to put his high profile flop behind him and there is plenty of intrigue and sub-plot in North London.
Just one point separated these two at the end of the last season and while Chelsea have seen Joe Cole exit for Anfield and Michael Ballack return to Germany, the Red Devils look set to go to war with virtually the same squad as twelve months ago.
Sir Alex Ferguson has added exciting Mexican striker Javier Hernandez and defender Chris Smalling to his ranks, while Carlo Ancelotti has snared Yossi Benayoun, but it will be pretty much as you were and both will have Arsenal and Manchester City snapping at their heels in the title race.
To Sunday, and I fail to understand the price discrepancy between the two rivals and this points very much to a low-scoring affair.
Chelsea, just 2.60 shots to win inside 90 minutes, come into the match on the back of three consecutive defeats, the latest in Hamburg on Wednesday having taken an early lead through Lampard, and certainly United appear to have the momentum to me.
Clashes between these two in recent years have, predictably, been tight but Fergie’s boys have looked sharp in patches when completing their pre-season preparations and thrashed an Irish League XI in Dublin last time out.
Chelsea, of course, represent a huge step up in class but the likes of Hernandez and Darron Gibson could well be given another chance to impress and Ancelotti has a goalkeeping selection headache.
With Petr Cech once again crocked, the Italian must chose between Ross Turnball and Hilario but neither has looked confident between the sticks over the past month and United are tipped to take advantage.
2pts Lay Chelsea (vs. Man Utd) @ 2.62 (Betfair)