MY ACCOUNT
Manchester United arguably produced their best performance of the season against Tottenham on Wednesday night, and Red Devils supporters will hope for more of the same at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening.
Erik ten Hag’s men pressed relentlessly against Spurs at Old Trafford, refusing to let the visitors out of their own half, let alone build pressure in the final third.
Had it not been for an inspired display by Hugo Lloris in the North Londoners’ goal, United would have won by a greater margin than 2-0.
Chelsea’s midweek display was less impressive as they laboured to a goalless draw at Brentford.
However, while manager Graham Potter’s gamble to rest five players at the Gtech Community Stadium did not pay off on Wednesday night, it could yet reap dividends on Saturday when Raheem Sterling, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Thiago Silva and Ben Chilwell line up fresh against United.
Blues fans will have to hope so as they have yet to fully hit their stride this season and have a poor recent record against this weekend’s visitors, last beating United on home soil almost five years ago.
Team news
Chelsea will again be without three of their key defensive players, with midfielder N’Golo Kante expected to be out until February and defenders Wesley Fofana and Reece James both likely to miss the World Cup with knee injuries.
Conor Gallagher started against Brentford but had to be withdrawn within 15 minutes due to illness, so the young attacking midfielder will be assessed ahead of this match.
Ten Hag has several injuries and absentees, albeit mostly to fringe players.
Defenders Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Axel Tuanzebe are both ruled out, and while both Donny van de Beek and Brandon Williams are back in light training, neither is expected to be back in contention just yet.
Centre-back Harry Maguire and forward Anthony Martial both have an outside chance of returning as they recover from thigh and back injuries, respectively.
The stats
Chelsea have not won any of their last six home games against Manchester United, drawing three and losing one of four Premier League meetings while also losing in the early rounds of both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
Nor have the Blues won on any of their last nine visits to Old Trafford, meaning Chelsea’s only victories against the Red Devils in the previous 13 meetings both came at Wembley in the FA Cup.
However, each of the previous four meetings have seen the spoils shared, with both matches last season ending 1-1 and both games in 2020-21 finishing goalless.
United are also unbeaten in four home games against other sides in the top seven this term, beating Arsenal 3-1, Tottenham 2-0, Liverpool 2-1 and drawing 0-0 against Newcastle.
However, away from home, they have visited only two teams in the top half, and Ten Hag’s men have suffered heavy defeats in both, losing 6-3 at Manchester City and 4-0 at Brentford.
Chelsea are unbeaten in their last eight Premier League home games but have played only three opponents from outside the bottom eight this term. They drew 2-2 at home to Tottenham, beat Crystal Palace 2-1 at Selhurst Park before Wednesday night’s stalemate at Brentford.
Prediction
As might be expected for two teams settling in under new managers, both Chelsea and Manchester United have seen some dramatic fluctuations in performance over the early months of the season.
United deserve plaudits for taking 10 points from four home games against their likely rivals for European places but are yet to convince on the road, with all three away wins coming by a single goal against struggling Southampton, Leicester and Everton.
Chelsea are unbeaten in seven since Potter took charge, but while the Blues have undoubtedly shown more defensive resilience under their new manager, conceding just twice and keeping five consecutive clean sheets, they have not always been entirely convincing.
The Blues were impressive home and away against AC Milan and comfortable against toothless Wolves. However, they were fortunate to beat both Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.
That is perhaps understandable given Chelsea are learning on the job under Potter and are dealing with injuries to key players, but in the circumstances, neither team at Stamford Bridge is likely to be too disappointed with another stalemate and the draw and under 2.5 goals at 7/2 with LiveScore Bet looks an attractive price.
