Man Utd aim to banish away day Blues

First Published: Friday 03 February 2012

Man Utd aim to banish away day Blues

United seek to end winless League run at Stamford Bridge on Sunday

Frank Lampard celebrates scoring the winner for Chelsea against Man Utd last season

Since the Barclays Premier League began in 1992, there are not many venues that can be described as bogey grounds to multiple title winners Manchester United.

But on Sunday United will travel to one such stadium when they take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, a match that could prove pivotal in this year’s title race.

United have won the League title five times since 2002 but during that time they have found Stamford Bridge to be an imposing citadel.

Although United won there in the Champions League last April, they have failed to win in the last nine League visits to Chelsea with their last taste of victory coming in April 2002 when they triumphed 3-0.

Over the last seven years, these two clubs have been battling it out for the championship and Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said: "It's not an easy game going to Stamford Bridge, we've not beaten them since 2002

"The last seven years we've fought with them for league titles so you expect it to be a hard game and it will be."

Man Utd's recent League record at Chelsea:

P10 W1 D3 L6 Pts 6

Mar 2011: Chelsea (Luiz, Lampard) 2-1 Man Utd (Rooney)
Nov 2009: Chelsea (Terry) 1-0 Man Utd
Sep 2008: Chelsea (Kalou) 1-1 Man Utd (Park)
Apr 2008: Chelsea (Ballack 2) 2-1 Man Utd (Rooney)
May 2007: Chelsea 0-0 Man Utd
Apr 2006: Chelsea (Gallas, Cole, Carvalho) 3-0 Man Utd
Aug 2004: Chelsea (Gudjohnsen) 1-0 Man Utd
Nov 2003: Chelsea (Lampard) 1-0 Man Utd
Aug 2002: Chelsea (Gallas, Zenden) 2-2 (Beckham, Giggs)
Apr 2002: Chelsea 0-3 Man Utd (Scholes, Van Nistelrooy, Solskjaer)

Chelsea have been so dominant at Stamford Bridge that Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, a player with an overflowing trophy cabinet, has never won a League match there.

"We've got a terrible record at Stamford Bridge," said the England forward before last year's fixture at Chelsea, which his side lost 2-1.

"It's not been a good place for me, with United and Everton – I even broke my metatarsal there in 2006 and nearly missed the World Cup.

"You get these strange records in football and there's no way to explain them. I certainly don’t know why we’ve found it so hard at Chelsea because our away record is very good overall."

The League trip to Stamford Bridge has certainly been a problematic one for United over the last decade, especially when compared with their away results against the other teams currently residing in the top seven in the table.

Man Utd's recent away League record against:

Tottenham P10 W7 D3 L0 Pts 24
Newcastle P10 W6 L2 D2 Pts 20
Liverpool P10 W5 D2 L3 Pts 17
Man City P10 W5 D1 L4 Pts 16
Arsenal P10 W3 D4 L3 Pts 13
CHELSEA P10 W1 D3 L6 Pts 6

United’s barren run at Stamford Bridge of course concedes with an extraordinary four-year period when Chelsea simply did not lose at home to anyone.

Between March 2004 and October 2008, Chelsea played 86 League matches at home without defeat, with Liverpool ending the record-breaking sequence with a 1-0 victory thanks to Xabi Alonso’s goal.

So it is not only Manchester United who have found wins hard to come by at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea's record at Stamford Bridge against:

Man City P10 W8 D1 L1 Pts 25
Tottenham P10 W7 D3 L0 Pts 24
Newcastle P10 W7 D3 L0 Pts 24
MAN UTD P10 W6 D3 L1 Pts 21
Liverpool P10 W5 D1 L4 Pts 16
Arsenal P10 W4 D3 L3 Pts 15

There have been signs, though, that home is not as secure for Chelsea as it once was.

They have lost three League matches at home already this season, with Arsenal, Aston Villa and Sunderland all recording victories there, while so far this campaign, Andre Villa-Boas' men have almost picked up as many points on their travels as they have at Stamford Bridge.

So will this be the season that Rooney finally ends his search for a League win at Chelsea? We do not have long to wait to find out.