The negative energy that surrounded this Chelsea vs Manchester United fixture has died down. The white flag has not been waved yet by either party, but calm seems to have settled between Chelsea manager Antonio Conte and Man United tactician Jose Mourinho.
The verbal feud never seemed to end, only about a month ago and despite the constant attempt by the media to get something out of press conferences, after their last words, both managers have showed a sudden rise in maturity to deflect war-resurrecting questions.
Jose Mourinho would make sure his Man United side are not embarrassed at home to his former side, coached by one time friend, now serious rival, Conte. Likewise, Conte would seek a result that underlines his credentials as a tactician against one of the games most idolized managers.
Chelsea have the upper hand though, they will feel, after beating West Brom and Hull City in the Premier League and FA Cup before playing masterfully against Barcelona to earn a 1-1 draw at home, despite talks of thrashing before the game. Chelsea would be full of confidence ahead of Sunday meeting.
But Man United have only just come off a drab stalemate with Sevilla in the Champions League game with most of their stars under performing, most notably Paul Pogba. Alexis Sanchez has been largely ineffective since joining Man United and the likes of Jesse Lingard and Nemanja Matic have had their early season form drop of this second half of the season.
Chelsea can take advantage of the mess, slowly cropping up from United, but it will take more than just good form to win at Old Trafford and Conte knows this by now.
