Following in the footsteps of his Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who suggested earlier in the season that rivals Chelsea had an ageing squad, Carlos Tevez has similar thoughts.

Tevez highlighted Frank Lampard, Deco, Nicolas Anelka, Didier Drogba, Ricardo Carvalho, and Michael Ballack as not getting any younger.

"I think they are a great team," said Tevez. "But I also think that as it is for me, at 24 years of age, it is sometimes very hard to recover and play Sunday and Wednesday. I would imagine that for some of the Chelsea guys that are much older it would be even harder.

"I think that the intensive Christmas schedule will take its toll on them because they have some great players but not so much strength in depth."