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Manchester United delivered one body blow to an English Premier League title rival at home last weekend and they will be out to do the same on enemy territory when they visit Chelsea tomorrow night.

These two clubs have shared the championship between them for the past six seasons and, even if this season's evidence makes it unlikely that we will have the usual two-horse race, this is always a highly significant encounter.

Chelsea have held the upper hand in the games at Stamford Bridge, where United have not won in eight visits in the league and cup since Roman Abramovich became owner of the west London club (five wins for Chelsea and three draws).

That record is in line with Chelsea's overall figures at home to other top-four finishers in the Abramovich era, with 13 wins out of 21 (62 per cent) before this season and just two defeats. This season they have embellished that record with a 2-0 home win over Arsenal, but that was before the slump that has seen them fall from a clear lead at the top of the table to fourth place.

Chelsea have won just three of their 10 Premier League games since that success over Arsenal in early October and those victories came against Blackburn (currently 13th in the table), Fulham (17th) and Wolves (19th). That is uninspiring form going into a crunch match against undefeated United, but there are some positives for Chelsea.

One is that their home form remains strong, apart from the calamitous 3-0 defeat by Sunderland five weeks ago. They have conceded only one goal in their other seven home games and the recent return of John Terry suggests their defence will not crack so easily again.