Lust for power as Man. United face Chelsea on Sunday

United, who dominated domestic football in the 1990s but who have been champions only once in the last five seasons, are very much back in business this term.

The familiar swagger has returned to Old Trafford, where Wayne Rooney, Louis Saha and Cristiano Ronaldo represent a formidable strike force, ably supported from midfield by the evergreen Paul Scholes.

Top of the table and three points clear of Sunday's opponents, they have also won their last three home league games, scoring seven goals without reply.

In Alex Ferguson, still firmly in control after 20 years at the club, they boast the English game's most successful manager since the dawn of professional football in 1888. But for Chelsea fans, United are precisely that - history. The Blues, backed by the wealth of their Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich and the astute management of Jose Mourinho, have become the new dominant force in English football.

Bidding this season for a hat-trick of league titles, having won the first two with little real difficulty, Chelsea have an impressive blend of England regulars in skipper John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole, plus a classy foreign elite.

Three international captains - Ivorian Didier Drogba, Ukraine's Andriy Shevchenko and Germany's Michael Ballack - provide talent and experience, albeit with the latter two still acclimatising to the pace of the Premier League.

Although both sides lost 1-0 away in the Champions League in midweek - United at Celtic and Chelsea at Werder Bremen - the London side still qualified for the last 16 while United must avoid defeat against Benfica on December 6 to progress.

Drogba's form

Drogba and Ballack suffered injuries in Bremen but both are expected to recover for Sunday.

Drogba has been in exceptional form this season, with his 14-goal haul in all competitions including two hat-tricks and a candidate for goal of the season with his matchwinner against Liverpool.

Chelsea will also take heart from the fact that while Old Trafford is indeed a fortress, it is not impregnable.

Arsenal were 1-0 winners there in September, when United struggled to cope with the Londoners' slick passing, and Chelsea won this fixture 3-1 two seasons ago under Mourinho.

Last season, they lost a tight game 1-0 but went on to hammer United 3-0 at Stamford Bridge in April.

With two thirds of the season still to play, Sunday's match will not be decisive in the title race in terms of points, even though a United victory and the resulting six-point lead would not be sneezed at by Ferguson and his men.

However, the psychological boost to the victors - and the damage wreaked on the losers in terms of undermining confidence - would be huge and potentially long-lasting.

Sunday's match could also offer some faint hope to their distant title rivals, notably putting the pressure on fourth-placed Arsenal at bogey team Bolton Wanderers.

Trailing United by 12 points, albeit with a game in hand, Arsenal would clearly welcome a win at the Reebok tomorrow and a draw at Old Trafford the following day.

However, Arsenal have lost their last two league visits to Bolton, where a dramatic 2-2 draw in 2003 killed off their title hopes.

In other weekend matches, third-placed Portsmouth travel to Newcastle, fifth-placed Aston Villa host Middlesbrough and mid-table Liverpool play Manchester City at Anfield.