Looking Ahead To Moscow

The Champions League Final will be played tomorrow in Moscow, with Chelsea taking on Manchester United. Both clubs are represented in the Galaxy locker room (Ruud played and managed Chelsea while David played at United) so we thought that we would ask the players, coaches and backroom staff for their predictions on the game.

We received 31 total responses (21 players, four coaches and six support staff) and here is what we found...

Fifteen players and four members of the staff picked Manchester United to win. Twelve picked Chelsea to leave Moscow with the trophy.

The most common choice in the score was a 2-1 win for Manchester United, with eight people selecting that as your final scoreline.

From the six players and six members from the staff who picked Chelsea to win, five expect the Blues to win 2-1.

Two players and a coach are predicting the game come down to penalties, with two of them foreseeing Manchester United coming out victorious, while one is predicting Chelsea to take it.

Two are predicting a high-scoring, 3-2 game, but those two are split with who is leaving Moscow with the trophy.

From the Manchester United fans, seven picked Cristiano Ronaldo to win Man of the Match honors, with Paul Scholes coming in a close second with five picks. Carlos Tevez was picked three times and Wayne Rooney twice, with Owen Hargreaves and Edwin van der Sar getting one nod each.

From the Chelsea hopefuls, six think Didier Drogba will walk away as the player of the match. Michael Ballack came in second with two votes, followed by Michael Essien, Petr Cech and Joe Cole with a vote a piece.

Eleven are predicting a shutout. While the most common score line in the shutout scenario is 1-0, two players are predicting a 3-0 shutout for the Red Devils.

From the eight Galaxy rookies, six are predicting a Manchester United win, while two think Chelsea will win.

Out of the seven players born outside the U.S., four foresee Manchester United winning.

Out of the veterans on the team, eight picked Manchester United and five picked Chelsea to win.

When averaged, the Galaxy keepers, forwards and defenders have Manchester United win by a 2-1 score, while the midfielders have Manchester United winning 2-0.

However, the goalkeepers do not have much faith in their Chelsea or United counterparts as all predict at least three goals to be scored and none see either keeper keeping a clean sheet.

But most importantly, the author of this post sees Chelsea gaining revenge after losing out on the title, and walking away with a 3-1 win courtesy of a pair of goals from Frank Lampard.

What do you think?