Fergie in the Mirror
"This is a difficult one. They will play their strongest team because they are out of the UEFA Cup.
"In the last round against Everton the only player they left out was Marcel Desailly. So I am in a quandary about how strong to make my team.
"I would like to win the game, but I would also like to play at least one young player because useful for giving people experience.
"I will have David Beckham and Laurent Blanc fit and possibly they could play.
"David needs a game, but it is coming too soon for Rio Ferdinand and Nicky Butt who are still two weeks away."
"Chelsea are the dark horses in the title race," added Ferguson. "There has always been a question mark against their consistency, but they are now starting to show some. They have always had big-name players.
"Maybe their squad is not big enough to win the League. To be fair, when you look at some of the players who are out of the team at the moment, their squad is not that bad.
"But I would have them as the dark horses in the Championship race. They are a good side.
"January 1 is always the defining time for teams at the top and the bottom of the Premiership table. If you are going to contesting the Championship you have to be up there with the leading clubs.
"Chelsea have shown enough so far to suggest they are capable of lasting the pace."
"You shouldn't look at the Manchester City result as doing us a favour because our performance at Maine Road was unacceptable.
"But it does look a bit like that at the moment. We have shown great drive and gone on the sort of run we needed to have.
"When Manchester United are firing on all cylinders we are always capable of winning matches."