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United have had their customary stuttering start to the season but as long as they do not lose this one then Chelsea will still be well in their sights. Defeat, however, and even this early on nine points is an uncomfortable margin.

There was little doubt that last season United deserved to walk away with the honours. Playing what was in effect a 4-2-4 in the Champions League final underlined Sir Alex Ferguson's conviction for all-out attacking football as well as his consummate belief in his players and himself.

Sir Alex played one of his classic cards last week when he suggested that John Terry's red card would not have been rescinded had he been a United player. The comment didn't really hold up to scrutiny and sounded more like the first piece of pressure being placed on the officials for this afternoon, making sure the home side aren't going to receive anything akin to preferential treatment in the 50-50 decisions.

It also represented the first shot across the bows of the latest rival to appear on the radar of Govan's finest. Fergie actually relishes having a formidable challenger and he certainly had that previously with Jose Mourinho. Ignore the level of histrionics shown towards old foe and new, there may actually be a direct correlation between his external antipathy and his internal respect for other clubs and their managers.

Big Phil Scolari turns up without the level of domestic CV that would normally impress the Scot, but on an international scene he is certainly one of the big beasts. Another similarity between the two can even be seen in the styles of their teams. They both not only want to win, but want to win with style and panache playing attacking football.

Even though I had donned a blue scarf and was waving a Chelsea flag in Moscow, I grudgingly accepted that United's performance that night is the way I think the game should be played. Since then Chelsea have morphed into something that mirrors the attitude of the Brazilian Scolari in that even the two full backs are expected to play the majority of the game as wingers and just about every player on the team being capable of scoring a goal. A classic example is that centre back Ricardo Carvalho is now encouraged to break forward when the same action under Mourinho would have had the manager tearing his exquisitely coiffured hair out.

In that these two clubs could only be separated by the width of a post after more than 120 minutes in that final it is no surprise that they are getting more alike all the time. The similarities are to be found throughout their sides. Unlike most other clubs, Carvalho and John Terry are trusted to go two for two at the back with no cover against any forward line in much the same way as Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic are implicitly trusted at the other end.

Patrice Evra could be a clone of a young Ashley Cole at left back and United prefer to fill their midfield with gifted forward-thinking players such as Carlos Tevez, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo. Similarly, Chelsea in the close season lost a midfielder in Claude Makelele who got nosebleeds in the opposition half, and replaced him with the creative craft of Deco, who couldn't tackle a sudoku, to support Joe Cole, Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard.

Even up front both managers seem to have a penchant for trying to get the best from talented divas. Whereas Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba could match up to any stroppy 14-year-old, Dimitar Berbatov could out-grump the entire fourth form. Each however is trusted to be the fulcrum of the forward play for the rest of the world-class talent to work around.

It might be more difficult to find an equivalent to Ronaldo at Chelsea. He is after all the most talented forward in the world at the moment, but maybe the attempted acquisition of Robinho was the player expected to do the same at Stamford Bridge before the billions from Abu Dhabi put paid to that. In general, the biggest rivals throughout football have a habit of being far more alike than many of their fans would like to accept, be it the Old Firm or Real and Barca.

There will not be much to choose between them today either. Chelsea have home advantage and they haven't lost in the league there for over four years. They also have the benefit of having their centre half and skipper Terry unexpectedly available whereas Man Utd will miss half of their defensive duo with Vidic suspended.

Chelsea have also started the season extremely well, playing confident flowing football, using a pretty much settled side where everyone knows exactly what to do. United in contrast have chopped and changed personnel as well as systems, with Sir Alex regularly plumping for a 4-3-2-1 formation away from home. He would however argue that this just underlines the strength and depth he has at his disposal in comparison to Chelsea.

Last week in the Champions League Chelsea effortlessly demolished Bordeaux 4-0 with their boss complaining it wasn't good enough. Twenty four hours later United struggled to a 0-0 draw with Villarreal and their boss spun it as a decent result and a more than decent performance from his team, a team that will admittedly bear very little relation to the 11 that will start this afternoon.

Pure psychology of course, aimed not only at the fans but more directly at their own players in preparation for today. Maybe the most important single thing to come out of both midweek games was the return of Ronaldo sans petted lip and looking almost match fit. The more his manager suggests he will be unavailable for today the more you feel he is likely to start.

When the world's best, and over the summer most annoying, player is on his day, and that was most days last season, he is quite simply a match-winner whether it be from a free kick, header, dribble or shot. He does however regularly fail to shine against Ashley Cole and if today he decides to switch wings, as he often does against Chelsea, he will find Jose Bosingwa waiting, the most impressive full back in the league so far this season.

Chelsea have their own leading man waiting in the wings but I suspect Drogba's fitness will not return quite as quickly as the much younger Portuguese striker. The Ivorian may have to settle for a cameo role rather than the star billing this time.

So where is the smart money going for this afternoon's outcome? Well it should probably be still sitting in your savings account, which is saying a lot considering the banking sector at the moment.