Jonny Evans believes Manchester United have the advantage over Chelsea, after Sir Alex Ferguson was successfully able to rest some of his senior players in the Champions League game against Braga.
The likes of Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, Paul Scholes and Antonio Valencia did not get a run out in midweek, meaning they should remain fresh for the big clash on Sunday at Stamford Bridge. And Evans is hoping that will tilt the balance towards United, with Chelsea, who lost to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League, yet to lose a single game, having dropped only two points in the English Premier League all season.
"I think the manager has been good at rotating the squad over the years," Evans told the club's official website. "He always seems to get it right.
"Whereas Chelsea always seem to play a full-strength squad in most games so it may give us a wee bit of advantage going into the game. But it's going to be a tough away game down there, it always is, and it's up to us to put on a good performance.
"I think you can see the way Chelsea have been scoring goals, they scored four again at the weekend (at Tottenham).
"It's going to be a tough game and I don't think our record has been great down there in the last few seasons so we have to put on a good away performance like we did at Newcastle."
Darren Fletcher also believes Chelsea will pose some problems for the Red Devils, and knows his side will have to be at their absolute best to get a positive result. "It's always difficult there," he said. "We haven't won there for a few years and we're well aware of that.
"We know how well Chelsea have started the season, even though I know they lost in Donetsk. We'll go there in good confidence. We believe in ourselves as a team and we're capable of getting a good result. Hopefully, we can get a win."
