Man Utd’s Rio Ferdinand: Chelsea match not as big as Liverpool or Man City
Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has played down the rivalry with fellow title contenders Chelsea, saying beating them doesn’t mean as much as winning against Liverpool or Manchester City.
The two sides meet in the Premier League on Monday in David Moyes’ first competitive game in charge of United.
But veteran defender Ferdinand indicated that the clash didn’t have as much riding on it for United as games against neighbours City or traditional rivals Liverpool.
Of the Chelsea fixture, he said: “Not one of my favourites I wouldn’t say, but you look forward to playing every time you step out at Old Trafford, it’s a special place to play, we all appreciate playing there in front of our home fans and try put on a show.
“But I wouldn’t say we take anyone more seriously, or say enjoy playing against anyone more. I think you’ve got your close rivals, in terms of Liverpool’s and the Man City’s, those games are usually amped up a little bit more than anyone else.
“So in terms of the feeling after winning one of those types of games, it’s probably the biggest of the season.”
Fellow centre-back Jonny Evans admitted it was a great opportunity to get the season and Moyes’ tenure off to a good start.
He said: “Yeah, it’s important to always to get a good start to the season, especially winning your first home game.
“It’s the manager’s first competitive game at Old Trafford, so it’s always nice to get off to a good start and put down a good marker for the rest of the season.”
Ryan Giggs, now a member of Moyes’ backroom staff as well as an important part of his midfield, warned of the danger of letting Jose Mourinho’s side build up momentum in the early part of the season.
He said: “Especially, like Jonny (Evans) said, it’s a first competitive home game and yeah, Mourinho’s first spell at Chelsea they obviously got off to a good start and we didn’t manage to catch them.
“But yeah, you want to get off to a good start, it’s obviously been well documented we have got a tough start, but we started well on Saturday, a good win at Swansea and hopefully we can carry that on.”
