Manchester United -v- Chelsea
Premier League
Old Trafford, Manchester
Wednesday 6 December 2023, KO 20:15 GMT
Manchester United return to Premier League action at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening as they welcome Chelsea to the Theatre of Dreams. United need to get points on the board this month, not starting well with a 1-0 defeat to Newcastle at St James’ Park on Saturday.
Erik ten Hag is under fire again on the media with rumours that he is struggling to keep the players on board, which if true shows them blaming anyone but themselves. Ten Hag is not the messiah and if this players are limiting their performances, they need to be the ones to go.
But things like this in the media tend to be made up because there is no accountability for lies in the media anymore as most storied tend to have a large proportion is fallacy rather than facts. United will need to put something together to take on Chelsea, who seem to be in better form now.
United – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Newcastle 1-0 L, Galatasaray 3-3 D, Everton 3-0 W, Luton 1-0 W, Copenhagen 4-3 L, Fulham 1-0 W
Goals: 5 – Bruno Fernandes, Rasmus Hojlund, 4 – Casemiro, Scott McTominay, 3 – Alejandro Garnacho, 2 – Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, 1 – Diogo Dalot, Christian Eriksen, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Hannibal Mejbri, Raphael Varane
Assists: 5 – Bruno Fernandes, 3 – Marcus Rashford, 2 – Christian Eriksen, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 1 – Casemiro, Diogo Dalot, Jonny Evans, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Anthony Martial, Lisandro Martínez, Scott McTominay, Mason Mount, Facundo Pellistri, Luke Shaw
Chelsea – Form, Goals Scored & Assists
Brighton 3-2 W, Newcastle 4-1 L, City 4-4 D, Spurs 4-1 W, Blackburn 2-0 W, Brentford 2-0 L
Goals: 7 – Nicolas Jackson, 6 – Raheem Sterling, 4 – Cole Palmer, 3 – Enzo Fernández, 2 – Mykhailo Mudryk, 1 – Benoît Badiashile, Armando Broja, Carney Chukwuemeka, Levi Colwill, Axel Disasi, Noni Madueke, Thiago Silva
Assists: 4 – Conor Gallagher, Cole Palmer, 2 – Malo Gusto, 1 – Benoît Badiashile, Ben Chilwell, Levi Colwill, Nicolas Jackson, Reece James, Raheem Sterling
Previous Meetings & Connections
United and Chelsea have met 62 times in the Premier League. United have won 18 times, drawing 26, losing 18. United have scored 79 goals, winning six penalties, scoring five. Chelsea have scored 75 goals, winning four penalties, scoring all of them.
United have kept 16 clean sheets with Chelsea keeping 19. This fixture has always been fiery with discipline a problem. United players have been shown 138 yellow cards and four red cards with Chelsea players being shown 142 yellow cards and six red cards.
Nemanja Matić, Juan Mata, Romelu Lukaku, Radamel Falcao, Juan Sebastian Veron, Mark Bosnich, Mark Hughes, Paul Parker, George Graham, Mal Donaghy and Ray Wilkins have played for both United and Chelsea in the history of both clubs.
Team News
Lisandro Martinez (ankle/foot), Jonny Evans (thigh), Tyrell Malacia (knee), Mason Mount (calf/shin/heel), Christian Eriksen (knee), Amad Diallo (knee) and Casemiro (thigh) have all been ruled out due to injury. Jadon Sancho is still suspended so United have problems.
Ten Hag will probably need to keep talented youth players in mind to bulk up the squad to keep the players fresh so no more are added to the injury list at this stage of the season. Kobbie Mainoo, Daniel Gore, Omari Forson and Joe Hugill have had involvement this season.
Wesley Fofana (knee), Ben Chilwell (thigh), Trevoh Chalobah (thigh) and Carney Chukwuemeka (knee) have all been ruled out due to injury. Conor Gallagher is suspended. Romeo Lavia (ankle/foot), Malo Gusto (tendon) and Christopher Nkunku (knee) have 25% chances of involvement.
Predicted United Starting XI – 4-2-3-1
Onana;
Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Varane, Shaw;
Amrabat, Mainoo;
Pellistri, Fernandes, Garnacho;
Hojlund
Predicted Chelsea Starting XI – 4-2-3-1
Sánchez;
Disasi, Thiago, Badiashile, Colwell;
Caicedo, Fernandez;
Sterling, Gallagher, Mudryk;
Jackson
Match Prediction
Chelsea started the season in very poor form but at the present time, they seem to be gelling as a team and getting some good results against teams who are contesting for the Premier League title this season. The 4-1 victory over Spurs and the 4-4 draw with City were good for them.
United can only dream of results like that at this time with many problems at the club this season from injuries to players out of form and a possible ‘throwing the manager under the bus’ situation that has happened at United with every manager post-Sir Alex Ferguson.
Ten Hag is the guy responsible for everything football wise at United and will need to overcome this storm that is on the horizon as the media are picking on him now. The club needs to back the manager and anyone not doing what he asks should be told to leave – it happened before.
Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea
Written by John Walker
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