Manchester United return to Premier League action this afternoon as they face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. United have not won in the league since they beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 at the end of October, previously winning in the league in mid-September when they beat West Ham United 2-1. United’s poor form saw the end for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was sacked after the 4-1 defeat to Watford last weekend with Michael Carrick taking the reigns temporarily. Carrick led United to a 2-0 victory over Villarreal in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday evening, seeing his side top the group and earning a place in the knockout stages this season.
Ralf Rangnick is expected to sign a six month deal to be United’s interim manager for the remainder of the season, then take up a two-year consultancy spell at the club.Because of the need for a work permit in the United Kingdom, which will not be in action before Sunday’s match, it is expected that Rangnick will take charge of his first United fixture on Thursday with United taking on Arsenal at Old Trafford in a match that will be live on Amazon Prime in the UK. United are expected to endure a few days training with the interim manager, which should hopefully see United adopt a better playing style post-Solskjaer.
Manchester United:
De Gea;
Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Bailly, Telles;
Fred, Matic, McTominay;
Fernandes;
Sancho, Rashford
Substitutes:
Henderson; Jones, Dalot; Mata, Lingard, Van de Beek; Ronaldo, Martial, Greenwood
Chelsea:
Mendy;
Chalobah, Silva, Rudiger;
James, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek, Alonso;
Ziyech, Werner, Hudson-Odoi
Substitutes:
Arrizabalaga; Christensen, Azpilicueta; Barkley, Politic, Niguez, Mount, Havertz; Lukaku
United and Chelsea have met a total of 58 times in the history of the Premier League. United have won 17 times, drawn 23 times with Chelsea winning the remaining 18 matches. United have scored 72 goals, winning five penalties and scoring four of them. Chelsea have scored 71 goals, winning two penalties and scoring both of them. United have kept a total of 16 clean sheets with Chelsea keeping 19. United players have been shown a total of 128 yellow cards and four red cards in this fixture with Chelsea players shown a total of 137 yellow cards and six red cards. This is going to be a fiery encounter at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
There is a rather vast history between United and Chelsea with many players donning the shirts of both clubs. Currently, both Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata have played for both and are in with a chance of featuring against their former club this weekend. Romelu Lukaku could feature against United for the first time since he left the Theatre of Dreams – he re-signed for Chelsea in the summer. Radamel Falcao, Juan Sebastian Veron, Mark Bosnich, Mark Hughes, Paul Parker, George Graham, Mal Donaghy and the late Ray Wilkins, a player both sets of supporters will hold immense respect for, have also featured for both clubs in the past.
Written by John Walker
