Chelsea facing red reality

The last time Chelsea placed their championship dreams in the hands of a prolific scorer called Jimmy he obliged with 41 goals. But the club still did not win the title that season, or even finish in the top three.

So the fact that Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is being hailed as the man to do for Chelsea what Jimmy Greaves could not 40 years ago sounds like another extract from the book of simplistic football notions.

In the interests of bringing everyone back down to earth, it seems perfectly timed that tomorrow afternoon the English FA Cup holders will receive a first-hand reminder of the red reality which stands between them and their summer dreams.

Of course many people are desperate to see some team, any team, topple United from their throne. And the £15 million acquisition of the former Leeds striker will do much to address Chelsea's recent scoring problems.

Forty-two goals in two seasons for Leeds, and 24 for Atletico Madrid last season, are numbers to make any Chelsea fan's mouth water.

But the fact remains that Gianluca Vialli's team need to find consistency over a season as much as the back of the net. And, for this reason, little should be read into the result of tomorrow's Charity Shield.

Gianfranco Zola is likely to be on the bench tomorrow, with Tore Andre Flo partnering Hasselbaink up front. Stanic is set for a start on the right wing.

Celestine Babayaro should start at leftback with Mario Melchiot at right-back as Albert Ferrer has an ankle injury.

For United, David Beckham is a doubtful starter after injuring his back in training yesterday, while Jaap Stam is struggling to be match fit, having started pre-season training late. But Ronny Johnsen and Jesper Blomqvist are back after missing virtually all last season with injury.