Not surprisingly Monday’s furour about the Luzhniki Stadium pitch appears to have died away as we now hear that it is going to be just fine. From the equivalent of a neglected public park pitch to no problem in 48 hours – a miracle indeed.

Perhaps the field condition was more a product of a journalist or two who found themselves in Moscow on Monday with nothing to write about until the teams arrived later in the day.

Now comfortable in the knowledge that billions of dollars of talent will not disappear down a sink hole in Moscow I can now safely turn my attention to the game this afternoon.

The problem is that with less than five hours to kick off and I am no closer to deciding who I think is the going to be the 2008 Champions of Europe. I have had a sneaking su####ion about Chelsea since the draw for the last sixteen was made but on the other hand I treat Manchester United in a final as I do the Old Firm – never bet against them.

So in an attempt to come to a decision of Chelsea or Manchester United here are the advantages that each side brings with them to the battle.

Chelsea
1. Didier Drogba – even more so than Ronaldo, Drogba has an unerring ability to lay low for most of a match but to still step up and decide the outcome. His strength and pace makes it impossible to ignore him.

2. Michael Ballack – Player of the Year in England if it was based on the last eight weeks. His positional play has been excellent and when not arguing with Drogba over free kicks the timing of his runs into the penalty box are reminiscent of former United great Bryan Robson.

3. Frank Lampard – criticized for the apparent high number of deflected goals he should be praised for adhering to old adage that if you don’t shoot you don’t score. What’s more when Lampard gets within 30 yards of goal watch how many defenders try to shut him down – no wonder he gets goals from deflections as well as creating gaps for the other Chelsea players to take advantage of.

4. Aerial power – Ballack, Carvalho, Drogba, Terry are all excellent in the air and every set piece for Chelsea will present and real and present danger to United.

5. No other English team has enjoyed a better record against Manchester United than Chelsea and that holds true even before the arrival of Roman Abramovich’s interest free loan.

Manchester United
1. Ronaldo – if United can get him the ball early in the game and he can settle into a rhythm then he can be the match-winner. Cole has played well against him in the past so it will be interesting to see which wing Fergie starts him on.

2. Rio Ferdinand – simply the best defender in England over the last season.

3. Patrice Evra – With a license to get forward that Chelsea appears to be unwilling to give to their full backs the Frenchman can exploit the spaces that the normally narrow Chelsea formation provides.

4. Edwin van der Saar – the Dutchman’s kicking skills have been identified as a weakness by many but it is his ability to find players with quick long throws that might be more pivotal.

5. Mobility – The constant movement used by United means that an opposition defense cannot drop concentration for a moment.

Line Ups
Michael Essien at right back appears to be the way that Chelsea will go with Malouda or Kalou a tactical decision and Cole or Bridge a fitness decision.

The speculation on the United line up is whether or not Ferguson buttresses his midfield with Owen Hargreaves. Bringing Hargreaves in would in my opinion be a clear signal that Ferguson would be happy to accept a saw-off in midfield and rely on his wide players and Rooney to win it for him.

A more aggressive strategy - and gamble - would be to start Tevez and Rooney in attack with Tevez being asked to hassle and upset Makelele as he sits just in front of the Chelsea back four. The downside of starting Tevez is that it takes away an option to change the game by way of the substitutes bench.

Decision – still unknown!

Henry14 - 1 Bobby what do you learn about United's attack today (Sunday), and l remember you talking about how Samuel Eto'o is probably the most valuable player in the planet because he is so difficult to replace and we saw how it affected Barca, using your same argument do you feel than Tevez and Rooney will complement that well in against deep defending teams and good solid teams with good defenders?
2 Bobby what did you make of the three promoted teams and their performance and especially Birmingham? l thought they look better than people think of them
3 Can you help me about how Wenger is 13/2 to get fired and do you think martin Jol will be at spurs next season if they do not win a trophy or break into the top four?
4 Do you think Ronaldo looks fat or there is something wrong with my TV
5 There is talk of Alves going to Chelsea and l do not think he is a good defender he is just like Evra and Eboue , not good defenders but excellent going forward, how would you describe Mr. Alves

Bobby 1. Rooney and Tevez will work fine together when the chance presents itself and they get a few games together under their belts. Even if they don't it is a gamble well worth taking.
2. If a newly promoted team stinks in the first couple of games then they generally have no chance of staying up. This is particularly true at home. Even then there are a good number of examples of promoted teams that flew out of the blocks only to be relegated.
3. My error – should have read 13/1. It was corrected in last week’s blog response and in the preview.
4. I don’t know I haven’t seen your TV. He might be big boned.
5. He’s really more of a wingback than a full back – the heir to Cafu (although Maicon looks pretty good as well).

Ohphuque – I’m surprised more folks aren’t in for the Portuguese fullback Miguel; he seems perfect for the EPL. I didn’t see much of Valencia last term so I don’t know how his club season went, maybe atleti can fill us in, but he looked a real menace at the World Cup. How do you rate this player?

Bobby – Excellent player and he had an excellent Euro 2004 when he replaced Ferreira.

Venti_vidi_vici - 1. What to you make of the incredible number of foreigners in the EPL this season? At last count there were 330 from 66 different countries; 50 more than last season, and for the first time ever they outnumber their English counterparts. In the inaugural EPL season in 1992 there were a total of 11 foreigners in the league. Arsenal has 22 foreigners and 2 locals; Liverpool's ratio is 18 and 5. This without mentioning that all the major managers and owners are also foreign.

2. What is the British Government trying to do about this? What can they do and why are they considering intervening? Is this because they fear that this is a short term phenomenon which could leave the English game in ruins, or are they just trying to help the national team?

Bobby – 1. The EPL is caught in their own marketing hype. To match what they claim about being the best league in the world the teams are “forced” to buy foreign players – mostly because they are better than the home-bred variety – and foreign clubs know that EPL teams will overpay. Having said that the league is infinitely better than it was 15 years ago. It will come at a price and the price is performances at the international level. If you go back and read about the formation of the EPL one of aims was to improve performances at the international level. The FA got sucked in on that one!
2. The government is limited to granting or not granting work permits to foreign players. You have to differentiate between players with an European Union passport (that entitles them to sign and play for any UK team) and non EU passport holders such as South Americans and Americans. Because of EU rules concerning freedom of movement for workers the “foreign player” numbers are somewhat distorted. What you really need in numbers by English players, other UK, other EU and foreign players. In addition any government that starts to stick a nose too deeply into the affairs of a national association runs the real risk of FIFA withdrawing sanction for the teams to participate in club and international competition.

Bigdavedisaster - I believe you said last year that you believed Berbatov was the transfer that made the biggest impact. Who will it be this year? Along the same lines who will be the bust?

Bobby – I will go for Malouda as the player to make the biggest impact and Roque Santa Cruz as one of the biggest busts. Santa Cruz’s goals coring in Germany has averaged around a goal every five games (in a league in which more goals are scored than the EPL) and I don’t see Bayern Munich selling a 25-year-old striker who looks to have all the tools if they didn’t have good reason to doubt his consistency.

Usa2010 - What really stuck out in the first round of the EPL was the value o####ood GK. While we all know that a good GK is invaluable, it was painfully obvious when you look at the Man Utd/Reading game and the Chelsea/Birm game. Put average keepers in goal for Reading and Birm, and Man Utd wins easily and Birm ties, or even wins. Also, with all the goal keeping woes at Man Utd, why don't you think SAF never looked at Friedel a few years back? I was always surprised his name was never mentioned. The guy is consistent in goal at a very, very high level.

Bobby – I’m assuming you mean when he signed Van der Sar. As for why SAF didn’t go after him – I have no idea.

Neophyte - I hope you read all the way down here. I have a question for you. Of the American goalkeepers in the EPL, who do you rate #1, 2 and 3? Do you think Chris Seitz (the US U-20 keeper) will get his turn to keep for a European club anytime soon?

Is there another midfielder from England as skilled as Gerrard in your opinion? (I officially don't like Liverpool but I will watch them play anytime Stevie G is playing. That free kick was incredible)

Bobby – GK Friedel, Howard, Hahnemann. Goalkeepers mature a lot later than outfield players so I don’t think there is any rush to get to Europe. He would be just as well getting experience and playing time – waiting a few years doesn’t seem to have hurt the other US keepers.
If you are meaning an English midfielder rather than a midfielder playing in England then I would have to say that nobody can match Gerrard in my opinion.

George11Best - What is your take on Cagliari and Mallorca?

Bobby – Nice places to visit? As far as their fooball teams are concerned - the upside is mid table with a relegation fight in their respective leagues a possibility.