TEAM NEWS: Chelsea start Drogba in preference to Torres as Giggs, Hernandez & Valencia get the nod for Manchester United

Fernando Torres & Didier Drogba, Chelsea

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Fernando Torres drops to the bench for Chelsea’s crucial Premier League clash with Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Carlo Ancelotti’s £50 million January acquisition featured for just over an hour in Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Tottenham last Saturday before being replaced by the winning goalscorer Salomon Kalou.

The Ivorian, who’s netted three in his last four outings, is part of Chelsea’s three-man attack alongside Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda.

For Manchester United, only Edwin van der Sar, John O’Shea and Antonio Valencia survive from their convincing 4-1 victory over Schalke on Wednesday.

Fabio replaces his brother Rafael at right-back while Rio Ferdinand and Nermanja Vidic return at centre-back.

In midfield, Sir Alex Ferguson has kept Valencia on the right wing while partnering Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs in the centre. Park Ji-Sung is handed a starting berth on the left flank.

In attack, Dimitar Berbatov drops to the bench while Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez return.

Manchester United: Van der Sar; Fabio, Ferdinand, Vidic, O’Shea; Valencia, Carrick, Giggs, Park; Rooney; Hernandez. Subs: Kuszczak, Anderson, Berbatov, Smalling, Nani, Scholes, Evans.

Chelsea: Cech; Ivanovic, David Luiz, Terry, Cole; Lampard, Mikel, Essien; Kalou, Drogba, Malouda. Subs: Turnbull, Alex Ferreira, Ramires, Benayoun, Torres, Anelka.