Chelsea travel to Manchester today to play in the only quarterfinal match that remains winnable by either side. The Londoners head into Old Trafford a goal down and perhaps lacking the confidence to steal it back. It doesn’t help matters that their floppy-haired central defender David Luiz is cup-tied and cannot play, nor that the £50M man up front can’t seem to find the back of the net.

United are, well, United. They persevere. Even without key components of their team for long periods this season (Valencia, misfiring Rooney, Ferdinand) they’ve managed to reach the FA Cup semifinal, the quarters of the Champions League, and are sitting 8 points clear at the top of the Prem. Chelsea, who are usually bigger and faster than the teams they come up against, weren’t able to convert their extra inches into goals, and looked a little slow in attack during the first leg.

Speed to goal isn’t something United lack. They have one of the swiftest counter attacks in all of football, with the little pumpkin churning away up front, and Nani and Valencia flying up the wings. More importantly, they have absolute belief in themselves, and it shows in the way they move the ball and force the attack. Chelsea were often hesitant in the first leg, pulling the ball sideways when a more direct attack may have been available, and giving the United defense enough time to readjust. Yes there was the Ramirez challenge that should’ve been a penalty, but you can’t rest all your hopes of winning on a spot kick.

The key to Chelsea victory will be exploiting O’Shea in right back. He’s just coming back from a hamstring injury, and it will be up to Malouda and Cole to make his day difficult (if they can also manage Valencia). We’ll come back at’cha with post-game analysis, but for now here are a few tidbits that will probably have no impact on proceedings:

Only twice in the UEFA Champions League era – Inter Milan’s triumph at Bayern Munich in this season’s last-16 (0-1 home, 3-2 away) and the 1995/96 semi-finals, when Ajax recovered from losing 1-0 at home to Panathinaikos with a 3-0 away triumph – has a team turned round a tie after a home first-leg defeat.

United have progressed in all 13 UEFA competition ties where they won the first game away from home, most recently against AC Milan in last season’s round of 16 (3-2 away, 4-0 home). That includes only one 1-0 away win, at Lille in the 2006/07 round of 16, which preceded another 1-0 victory at Old Trafford.

Chelsea’s quarter-final record in the competition is five wins and one defeat. United have won 11 and lost five at this stage, and went down on away goals to Bayern Munich 12 months ago.