No sooner had Chelsea secured their short-term future among Europe's elite on Wednesday than thoughts in West London turned to Sunday's top-of-the-table premier league clash against Manchester United.

Chelsea ground out an uninspiring goalless draw at home to Sparta Prague to qualify for the knockout stage of the Champions League.

Coach Claudio Ranieri afterwards expressed his frustration at the Czech side's tactic of getting all of their players behind the ball but was optimistic that Sunday's match would be more open.

"We are pleased with this performance and now our mind is on Manchester United," Ranieri told reporters. "We have a lot of respect for the champions. We play with the same philosophy, with the same mentality."

Chelsea's hastily but expensively assembled squad, financed by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, had won their past seven matches in all competitions before Wednesday.

With 32 points from 13 premier league matches they stand a point behind Arsenal and one ahead of third-placed Manchester United in what looks like being a three-horse title race.

Ranieri, a self-confessed "tinkerer" with his team, is unlikely to start with the same line-up for Sunday's match, leaving the likes of England midfielder Joe Cole on tenterhooks ahead of what could be one of the matches of the season.

Cole, 22, said to play in the game against Alex Ferguson's team would be one of the highlights of his career and that the match would provide a firm indicator of how good the Chelsea side are.

"I'd love to play in it but I'll just have to wait and see. It's brilliant, it's the stuff you dream of," Cole said.

"We don't fear anybody at football. We look at it as a game against the champions and a chance to try to put some more points on the board.

"But people will look at it to see how far Chelsea has come, I would imagine. We'll see on Sunday how far we have come."