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Ferguson wary of Chelsea flying under the radar

ESPN staff
September 16, 2011
Sir Alex Ferguson has likened Andre Villas-Boas to a young version of himself © PA Photos
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Sir Alex Ferguson has warned his side not to underestimate Chelsea when the champions take on their rivals at Old Trafford on Sunday.

With 18 goals in their opening four matches, United are top of the league with maximum points and are bursting with confidence, ahead of rivals Manchester City on goal difference.

The form of strikers Wayne Rooney and Sergio Aguero has seen the two Manchester sides steal the headlines, but Chelsea are just two points behind and victory at Old Trafford would see them overhaul the champions.

While Rooney alone has eight league goals to his name this season, Chelsea have netted just seven throughout their team, but Ferguson admits the Blues will be more than happy to sneak under the radar.

"They are a team with a great experience; they will always be challengers to us," Ferguson said. "The Manchester teams are enjoying the publicity with predictions that we are going to be involved in winning the league.

"But in the background lurks Chelsea, and they don't need the publicity because it's all going to Manchester and they will be enjoying that at the moment. They will be there at the end of the season, there's no doubt about that."

Ferguson also hailed the impact of new Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas. At 33, the Portuguese is the same age as Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, but Ferguson believes his authority comes from his past success at Porto.

"It's a hard challenge at his age but he seems to have acquitted himself very well," Ferguson said. "You hope as a manager when you go to a club that you get an immediate response and he's got that.

"When I came down from Aberdeen I had achieved some things at Aberdeen, so that helped me. He won the double last year at Porto, they won the Europa League and the [Portuguese] league, so that is a help, there is no doubt about that.

"The achievement will stand him in good stead in terms of his start to his tenure at Chelsea. After that then the impression that the players will get from him in terms of his knowledge of the game and his man management skills, that is all in the future."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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