Fernando Torres meets Manchester United for the first time as a Chelsea player tomorrow night, knowing what it takes to topple the league leaders.

The Spaniard scored twice against the Old Trafford club during his time as a Liverpool player, but has regularly troubled United's defence and given Nemanja Vidic, one of the world's top defenders, numerous nightmares in their various tussles. Indeed each of the Serbian's three red cards in England came in Torres-inspired Liverpool wins over their north-west rivals.

Vidic will captain United at Stamford Bridge tomorrow, but will be without his regular partner Rio Ferdinand, who is out with a calf strain. It is a disappointment for Torres who enjoys testing himself against football's biggest names.

'I think Chelsea knows better than me how to play Man United, they were more successful than us in the last couple of years, but it is always the same.

'When you play against top sides they have top players and Man United are the same, they have brilliant centre-backs and always the motivation is high when you play against them,' he said. 'You want to play well against these players to show you can do it, and Vidic and Ferdinand were always a big challenge for me, so I hoped they could both play. Some people prefer big players not to be playing but I prefer to play against these kinds of players.'

It has been said this season that United, although out in front at the top of the league and having won 4-0 at Wigan this weekend, have not found their best form, particularly away from home where they have recorded just four league wins this season, but Torres believes a long unbeaten run in the early season has served them well.

'They have lost only one game, the main thing is that it is Man United on the top even if they are not at their best, they are still challenging for everything this season,' he said. 'This is the quality they have and it's been the same at Chelsea. I was at Liverpool and when I had to play against Chelsea or Manchester United and they were not in their best moment you knew it would still be very hard to win.

'This will be an interesting game because it can make us come back to fight for the title, it is one of the most important games of the season right now, and if we win this one we are closer to them and we have will still have one more game against them.'

While he is still looking for his first Chelsea goal, Torres showed strong signs of settling into the team in Copenhagen last week, alongside Nicolas Anelka and ahead of a four-man midfield.

'The strikers we have depend on the play of the rest of the team,' explained the 26-year-old. 'With two lines of four the other day the team played really well and the balance was really good, compact and they did well, sometimes playing balls behind the centre-backs or sometimes between the lines, and Nico likes to play like this.

'It is my job to understand the game of Nico or the game of Didier Drogba, and to be involved in the routine of the team and know the quality of the players so that's what I am trying to do now.'

With previous triumphs over United in mind, tomorrow would be the ideal time for Torres to open his Chelsea account.