"AFTER being beat 2-1 by Liverpool last weekend Manchester United have an even tougher assignment this Sunday ¿ taking on high-flying Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea have started the season off with a bang under new manager Luiz Scolari. Last weekend against Manchester City they went behind to an excellent free kick by new signing Robinho but came back strong through Ricardo Carvalho a few minutes later. They then dominated City with Frank Lampard finishing beautifully after an excellent move and then Nicolas Anelka got the third in the 3-1 victory. Although Chelsea captain John Terry received a red card for a professional foul that was rescinded this week and he will be available for Sunday's match.

The good news for United is that it is still early in the season but if Chelsea win they will go nine points clear of the defending champions who still have a game in hand.

And in the Champions League this week Chelsea again looked great beating Bordeaux 4-0. The French team never looked in the game and again it was Lampard who was leading the team scoring and playing provider as well. He scored with a header early on in the first half and made the cross for Joe Cole to nod in at the near post. He also played a nice backheel for Florent Malouda to score.

Frank looks to be in great form this early in the season and I would have to say he is one of the best midfielders in the world ¿ his goal scoring is way up there and I wish the England fans would get off his back when he plays for his country. He can strike with both feet and is constantly thinking. With Deco now in Chelsea's ranks, the midfield looks ever so sharp. And Deco is playing like he did a couple of years ago for Barcelona. It is going to be tough for United this weekend and manager Ferguson knows that. One of his top defenders, Nemanja Vidic, is suspended after getting two yellows last weekend against Liverpool and it is questionable whether new signing Bulgaria striker Dimitar Berbatov will play as he has a knee injury and was out for United's Champions League match against Villarreal on Wednesday which was a scoreless draw at Old Trafford.

Considering what happened last season when United pipped Chelsea to the title on the last day of the season and also just managed to get by them in the Champions League final in Moscow with a penalty shoot-out, you know Chelsea would really love to take the three points on Sunday.

Last week United may have started well against Liverpool going 1-0 up in the first half but Liverpool deserved to win the game 2-1. They simply outworked United. Mind you it was about time they won this fixture ¿ it was their first home win over United since 2001. Ronaldo made his return for United as a sub against Villarreal so that is the good news for United.

Chelsea also signed their former captain Ray Wilkins this week to take the place of Steve Clarke who will join up with Zola at West Ham.

NEWCASTLE

It is all going wrong for Newcastle right now and owner Mike Ashley has put the club up for sale after fans protested following Kevin Keegan leaving.

Now I am not saying that what Ashley did was right but Keegan is no saint either. After all, what has he ever won as a manager? Nothing. He has walked away from jobs before and this is no different so people should keep that in mind before coming down completely on the owner.

The good side of all of this is that West Ham take on Newcastle this weekend and it is obviously a good time to play them. Especially after promoted Hull travelled to Newcastle last weekend and beat them 2-1 through sheer hard work. Newcastle's players must be a bit depressed at what is happening but Hull fans must be rejoicing right now considering they are way up the table.

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AC MILAN

Coach Ancelotti must be feeling the pressure at AC Milan right now. After two games in Serie A the club have no points. Last weekend they lost to Genoa 2-0 and before that they lost to Bologna 2-1 at the San Siro.

And just look who they have playing for them ¿ FIFA Player of the Year Kaka, former two-time Player of the Year Ronaldinho who arrived from Barcelona this season, young Brazilian striker Pato and they also resigned former European Player of the Year Andriy Shevchenko from Chelsea. I would not be surprised to see Ancelotti go and perhaps Frank Rikkard come in.

Last season was a bad one for AC Milan since they didn't even qualify for the Champions League ¿ something which is a must for them. They were obviously targeting the Serie A title this season but it has all started badly.

Another one of Italy's top teams Roma are also in the dumps. Last weekend they lost to Palermo 3-1 and in the Champions League they lost 2-1 at home to Romanian champions CFR Cluj ¿ a team I must admit I am not familiar with.

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JOHN BARNES

The former England and Liverpool star player John Barnes has just been appointed as Jamaica's national coach and I hope he does well. Barnes was born in Jamaica and it is nice to see someone come back and be successful.

He is a nice fellow and while he doesn't have much coaching experience ¿ except for that brief stint at Celtic which he would rather forget ¿ I hope the players buy into him.

Barnes succeeds Rene Simoes, who was fired last week following Jamaica's poor start to the semifinal round of World Cup qualifying and it was Simoes second time in charge of Jamaica. In his first stint he was extremely successful guiding the country to their first World Cup appearance in 1998.

Barnes will have a baptism by fire as Jamaica host Mexico in their next World Cup qualifier on October 11, followed by Honduras and Canada. And they need to win all three to have any chance of advancing.