Jamie Jackson was at Old Trafford tonight. Here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM.
Enzo Maresca talks to Sky. “Very difficult … the red card completely changed the game … the plan is in the bin … it was very complicated … we needed to defend with five players … we could defend with four when 11 v 11 … so we decided to change … we changed Cole [Palmer] … he was not 100 percent fit.”
Ruben Amorim speaks to Sky. “[It feels] really good … now is time to create a little bit of momentum … we started the game really well … really aggressive … I cannot remember a very good play from us but we pushed our opponent … first balls, second balls … we cannot have the sending off near half-time … we like to complicate our games … in the end it was a good day … I felt the urgency … especially in the beginning … we had so many opportunities … we have to be more clinical to finish the game sooner … you never know what is going to happen … [Bruno Fernandes] scored a goal playing as a midfielder so I am really happy with that! … it is nothing about [silencing critics] … people don’t have too many good things to say about our team … I understand that and I am just joking … I have nothing to say to our critics, they are right most of the time … but today we won and it is a good day for us … our fans helped us a lot … we fight in every moment … we deserved the win … we think about the next one … we can lose against Grimsby, we can win against any team.”
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, who scored his 100th goal for the club tonight, speaks to Sky Sports. “Every three points is massive because we haven’t started the season as we wanted … we go game by game … the next one will be massive too.”
United’s celebrations are doubtless fuelled more by relief than joy, having threatened to toss away a two-goal and one-man advantage in farcical fashion. But it turns out they’d done just enough in the first 50 minutes of the game, before Casemiro preposterously got himself sent off, to earn the three points. And those three points are huge, whisking them from basement-adjacent 17th spot to the top half. Just one point shy of Chelsea’s haul, too. Everything suddenly looks a little rosier for Ruben Amorim … but it’s been a painful week for Chelsea, who follow up comprehensive defeat in Europe with this ramshackle loss, their unbeaten record kaput. A trip to Brentford next weekend for United; it’s Lincoln in the League Cup midweek for Chelsea.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 5 | 6 | 15 |
| 2 | Tottenham Hotspur | 5 | 7 | 10 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 4 | 8 | 9 |
| 4 | Crystal Palace | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| 5 | AFC Bournemouth | 4 | 1 | 9 |
| 6 | Chelsea | 5 | 5 | 8 |
| 7 | Sunderland | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| 8 | Everton | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| 9 | Man Utd | 5 | -2 | 7 |
| 10 | Leeds | 5 | -3 | 7 |
| 11 | Man City | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| 12 | Newcastle | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| 13 | Fulham | 4 | -1 | 5 |
| 14 | Brighton | 5 | -2 | 5 |
| 15 | Nottm Forest | 5 | -4 | 5 |
| 16 | Brentford | 4 | -2 | 4 |
| 17 | Burnley | 5 | -3 | 4 |
| 18 | West Ham | 5 | -8 | 3 |
| 19 | Aston Villa | 4 | -4 | 2 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton | 5 | -9 | 0 |
FULL TIME: Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea
The ten men of United beat the ten men of Chelsea. Relief for the hosts, who made very heavy work of a very promising situation in very heavy rain.
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90 min +7: The free kick is sent wide left to Mainoo, who wins a corner, and that’s surely it now.
90 min +6: James has the chance to cross from the right … but falls over comically. The crowd guffaw and jeer as Cunha strolls off on the counter, drawing a foul from Tosin, who goes into the book. More importantly, the clock ticks on.
90 min +5: Gusto crosses from the left. De Ligt puts the ball behind for a corner, which is confidently swatted clear by Bayindir.
90 min +4: … so James crosses low from the right, leading to slapstick panic in the United box. Santos is first to a loose ball on the penalty spot, but gets too cute with his shot, and his weak sidefoot is blocked well by Ugarte. Just for a nanosecond, the jig looked up for United. But they survive.
90 min +3: Chelsea have enjoyed 78 percent of possession since their goal, but haven’t carved out a chance since. Not a single shot on target.
90 min +2: Chalobah tries to release George down the inside-left channel. The pass is good; the timing of the run is not. Offside.
90 min +1: George and Mainoo wrestle in the centre circle and it’s a welcome free kick for the hosts. They don’t rush to take it.
90 min: There will be seven additional minutes.
88 min: Chelsea pass and probe. They probe and pass. United hold their shape.
87 min: The game restarts, but not before United replace Fernandes with Mainoo, who receives a huge cheer as he comes on. A message for his manager, perhaps.
86 min: The referee’s electronic communication pack has given up the ghost. We pause as it gets fixed, or replaced, or whatever.
84 min: …Chelsea threaten to counter, Santos bombing down the middle. But with options either side, he pauses and allows Ugarte to make a crucial attack-spoiling challenge. This is properly in the balance.
83 min: The best form of defence for United may be attack, and so Fernandes dribbles down the inside-right channel before pearling a drive towards the bottom left. Jorgensen extends himself fully to tip around the post. And from the resulting corner …
82 min: James dinks another cross in from the right. Diallo heads clear with Pedro preparing to head home. The nerves around Old Trafford palpable now.
81 min: A shiny bronze penny for Ruben Amorim’s thoughts on Casemiro right now.
GOAL! Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea (Chalobah 80)
… so having said that, and with exquisite comic timing, Chelsea win another corner down the right. Fernandez plays it down the line for James, who swings long. Chalobah rises highest, six yards out at the far post, and plants a header across Bayindir and into the bottom right. Game back on!
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79 min: James advances down the left and wins a corner off Shaw. The set piece is no good. Chelsea haven’t put Bayindir to work at all.
78 min: A lot of high-speed, sodden scrappiness.
76 min: The rain has finally stopped.
75 min: The resulting free kick finds Shaw down the left. Shaw curls long for Diallo, who attempts a Mark Hughes bicycle kick. Full marks for ambition if nothing else.
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74 min: Caicedo nicks Fernandes’s ankle. Then he has a short conversation with Mount. Santos and Yoro both come across to get involved as well, before everything cools down as quickly as it flared up.
72 min: George tries to close down Bayindir mid-clearance, and is kicked and booked for his trouble.
71 min: Fernandes, out on the left, heads a long ball down into the path of the in-flight Mount … but the United midfielder is stopped in his tracks by a perfectly timed sliding tackle from Chalobah … who is on a booking, so that timing was key.
69 min: United make a double change, replacing Mbeumo and Maguire with Yoro and Mount.
67 min: That slew of changes has done for whatever momentum Chelsea was building up. The game goes scrappy and bitty, which will suit United just fine.
65 min: United had considered replacing Mbeumo with Cunha … but aborted the substitution seconds before Mbeumo stepped off the pitch, and just before the aforementioned corner. Now Amorim changes his mind again, sending Cunha on, but taking off Mazraoui instead.
64 min: Garnacho won’t play on his return to Old Trafford today. That’s because Chelsea make their last two changes, Gusto and George on for Cucurella and Fofana.
63 min: De Ligt’s clearance went out for a corner. James curls it towards the near post. Tosin eyebrows on for Fofana, who can’t miss with his header from a couple of yards … but Fofana was clearly offside and the flag goes up correctly.
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62 min: Fernandez slips James into the United box down the inside-right channel. James tries to find Caicedo with a cut-back, but De Ligt gets in ahead of the in-rushing midfielder to hook clear. Better from Chelsea.
60 min: Chelsea hog the ball, but do very little with it. One goal would seriously change the mood, but they don’t look like scoring it at the moment. Meanwhile Kári Tulinius observes that “matches in torrential downpours are always charming because it makes professional footballers, who otherwise can seem nearly superhuman, look like kids playing football on a muddy field in the park.”
58 min: Pedro is sent skittering into acres of space down the left. He’s got Fernandez free in the middle, but holds onto the ball for too long, allowing Mazraoui to block the route into the centre. Big chance for Chelsea wasted.
57 min: Dorgu and Fernandes take turns to curl crosses into the Chelsea box from the left. Chalobah clears the first; Fernandes overhits the second, giving Mbeumo no chance at the far stick. Goal kick. But that’s better from United.
56 min: Sky flash up a stat. Chelsea have enjoyed 80 percent of possession since the restart.
54 min: Maguire sticks out an arm to fend off Santos, who cops one flush in his startled face. Just a free kick. Maguire sends some invective in the direction of the referee anyway. Everyone pushing their luck in different ways right now.
52 min: I mean, 10 versus 10 on one of the bigger pitches in the country, and one that’s collecting water and slippery as it gets, ball and players rolling around in equally erratic fashion.
50 min: Chalobah clanks into Diallo and becomes the latest Chelsea player to go into the referee’s notebook. Chelsea now have three of their side on a yellow. A fair chance this isn’t going to end 10 versus 10.
49 min: Fernandez is booked for planting his studs on Ugarte’s ankle, as the pair tussle. You’ve seen red cards given for less.
47 min: … well, probably not. But there are big puddles forming in the Old Trafford technical areas. Hmm.
46 min: The rain is still hammering down, and the pitch is taking a bit of a battering. Earlier today, the Championship game between Blackburn and Ipswich was abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch. It couldn’t happen here, could it?
Chelsea get the second half underway. In the wake of Casemiro’s dismissal, United have sacrificed Sesko for Ugarte.
In the interests of postbag-based balance … “I’m going to go against the crowd and say that, barring relegation, United should stick with Amorim,” writes David Wall. “When they come under pressure, the manager inevitably resorts to short-term solutions, rather than forcing through the changes that everyone agreed were needed. We saw this with Erik ten Hag after just a couple of matches: seeing that they weren’t able to play in a way he was hired to make them play, he reverted to trying to plug leaks throughout his tenure rather than actually trying to fix it properly. Amorim is just saying that he’s not going to go the same way. Of course people will say, ‘it’s Manchester United, you can’t accept a period where they’re doing really badly’, but that’s part of the problem. They need a bit of humility to accept that they have to go through that process just like everyone else. Alternatively they could just hope that the next manager will pull rabbits from hats and magic the club into being on a par with the other top clubs.”
Our postbag is now officially teeming over. There’s still not much love for Ruben Amorim within, mind. Or Enzo Maresca, come to that.
“Why was Casemiro still on the pitch after getting that first, needless yellow card? The only thing that was going to get Chelsea back in the game is United having a man sent off. And, given his history, Casemiro was certainly more than capable of getting himself a second yellow. Amorim really needs to be asked why he left Casemiro on. Even when things are going their way, they find a way to screw it up” – Kevin Cullen, long suffering Man U supporter in Vermont and not happy
“For all his talk about systems, Amorim’s United are ahead today mainly because of a long ball launched in the fourth minute by Bayindir, and a deep cross nodded down. Never mind the Pope, the infallibility of Route One football when you’re desperate is between Amorim’s conscience and his god” – Justin Kavanagh
“Not sure why Maresca didn’t bide his time before hooking all his match winners. Against Chelsea’s rivals at the top it may make sense but against this brittle Man Utd team wouldn’t attack be the best form of defence?” – Iain Chambers
“What Chelsea need here is an experienced head, to guide them through the storm. Someone like Sterling. Or possibly Maresca’s dad” – Tim Woods
“So the Pope can’t get Amorim to change his formation, but Casemiro can” – Andrew Goudie
HALF TIME: Manchester United 2-0 Chelsea
United’s one-man advantage is gone … but they’re still two goals up. Not that you’d know it from the look on Ruben Amorim’s face, as he stomps off in great irritation. You can hardly blame him. Considering the circumstances, Casemiro’s foolishness was off the scale.
45 min +9: The Old Trafford faithful are suddenly rather subdued. This game looked completely in the bag. But now the certainty is gone.
45 min +7: James fizzes a cross through the United six-yard box from the right. Pedro doesn’t anticipate it, and the ball sails away from danger. Chelsea now have their tails up, all hope having previously been lost. Well, Casemiro’s replenished their stocks of that.
45 min +6: Casemiro walks off shaking his head, presumably at his own idiocy. Then after the restart, Cucurella finds himself with the ball at his feet, just inside the United box, but blazes high and wide from a not-particularly-tight angle.
RED CARD: Casemiro (Manchester United)
45 min +5: Here’s that stupid sending off, then. Casemiro climbs on the back of Santos, pulling him back, and that’s a second yellow. It’s ten versus ten, and all of a sudden Chelsea have a little bit of hope.
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45 min +3: Fernandes takes up possession in a pocket of space in front of the Chelsea box. He tries to slip Diallo into the box with a slide-rule pass down the middle, but gets it all wrong. Blocked and cleared.
45 min +1: Fernandes slaps a dismal free kick into the Chelsea box that fails to beat the first man. There will be nine additional first-half minutes.
45 min: Cucurella launches himself into a daft challenge on Mazraoui, who was going nowhere down the right. It’s a booking all day long, and now a free kick in a dangerous position.
43 min: Sesko one-twos with Fernandes down the inside-right channel, but takes a heavy touch and the opportunity to shoot is gone.
42 min: James makes a nuisance of himself down the right but Shaw outmuscles him to shepherd the ball out for a goal kick. Meanwhile Cole Palmer’s back on the Chelsea bench, with an ice pack on his groin that may explain his withdrawal.
40 min: A third goal is more likely than a United red card, though. Diallo advances down the left and looks for Mbeumo in the middle. Jorgensen does just enough to flap clear.
39 min: During the celebrations, Shaw brushes past Fernandez, who isn’t happy about it at all. Tempers flare. The referee eventually calms everything down. The only thing that can possibly save Chelsea now is if a United player gets stupidly sent off.
GOAL! Manchester United 2-0 Chelsea (Casemiro 37)
Sesko busies his way down the right and earns a corner off Fofana. Mbeumo plays it back down the line for Mazraoui, who swings into the mixer. Dorgu wins a header. James slices horribly into the air. Shaw heads the dropping ball across the face of goal, left to right, and Casemiro nods down and home. United double their lead!
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35 min: Pedro dribbles into the United box down the inside-left channel. He goes over Mazraoui’s leg, and claims a penalty. While VAR takes a look, United counter, Diallo crossing from the left for Mazraoui, who slices horribly wide. But he was offside anyway. At least he didn’t concede a penalty, though, which is the conclusion the VAR eventually comes to.
33 min: Mbeumo slips Diallo into the box down the right. Diallotries to dribble his away round Tosin along the byline, but walks the ball out of play. He still stands it up for Fernandes, who nods home at the far stick, but the goal obviously won’t stand.
31 min: United continue to press forward with their extra man; Chelsea are only just holding on. Mbeumo and De Ligt with dangerous crosses from the right. “SBJR is probably worrying about having to pay a win bonus,” suggests Richard Hirst.
29 min: … and here he is, deliberately getting in the way of Mbeumo down the right. He’s fortunate not to go into the book. The resulting free kick is eventually plucked from the sky by Jorgensen, who tries to set Chelsea off on the counter. Shaw cynically wraps an arm around Fernandez, and now it’s a United player who gets away with a sly foul. No booking.
27 min: Cucurella is fine to continue.
25 min: Mazraoui barges clumsily into the back of Cucurella, who takes the opportunity to stay down and allow Chelsea some brief respite. While he gets some treatment, the camera pans to Sir Big Jim Ratcliffe, who despite United’s brisk start this evening, is sitting in the stand with a face on.
23 min: Cucurella’s sheer presence wins Chelsea a corner down the left, but when the set piece is played back to Caicedo, the resulting shot is scuffed and blocked. Safe to say this isn’t going to plan for Chelsea, who had been hoping to go second tonight.
21 min: Also not happy: former Manchester City player and boyhood Manchester United fan Cole Palmer, who having taken just one touch so far, is replaced by Santos, as Chelsea look to shore things up and perhaps even turn the tide. Palmer shakes his head in irritation, before trudging off down the tunnel in (a) a big coat, and (b) high dudgeon.
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20 min: Pedro goes up for a high ball but catches De Ligt upside the head with an elbow. Fernandes isn’t particularly happy about it, but the referee keeps his yellow in his pocket.
19 min: Mbeumo finds a bit of space down the right and aims a curler towards the top-left corner. Just too high, a smidgen too wide. But that was close. Chelsea are in all sorts of trouble here.
18 min: Casemiro goes into the book for an earlier challenge on Fernandez. But that doesn’t stop the Old Trafford party. The place is bouncing.
17 min: Yep, the goal stands. Chalobah was attempting to step out and catch Fernandes offside, but forgot to trim his toenails last night, and it’s 1-0 to the hosts.
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16 min: The VAR has got his special rulers out. This one is tight. It initially looked to the naked eye like Fernandes was off, but zoom in and Chalobah’s toe might be a factor here.
15 min: Hold on, VAR is having a good long look at a possible offside.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Chelsea (Fernandes 14)
Mbeumo crosses from the right. Dorgu rises at the far stick, and heads back across goal. Fernandes springs clear of the thin blue line and cocks a leg to prod past Jorgensen and in! It’s fair to say that had been coming.
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13 min: On the touchline, Enzo Maresca shakes his head in irritation. He might have a feeling what’s coming …
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12 min: De Ligt fizzes a low ball in from the right but neither Sesko nor Diallo is able to meet it in the box.
10 min: Nothing comes of that corner, but you can be sure United scent blood in the water. Chelsea can’t get out.
9 min: Mbeumo swings the corner in. Casemiro gets a weak header on target, but Cucurella half-clears. Mbeumo crosses again from the right, and De Ligt’s presence forces Jorgensen to punch behind for another corner.
8 min: After all the fussing, the free kick. Fernandes blasts it straight into the wall, then Mbeumo hoicks a shot over the bar. But the shot took a small nick, and it’ll be a corner, which Mbeumo will take himself.
7 min: Jorgensen comes on to replace Estevao. Neto is also sacrificed by Enzo Maresca, with Tosin coming on to bolster a defence that’ll now be under severe pressure all evening.
6 min: Fofana and Caicedo were just behind Mbeumo, but the striker was in the process of rounding the keeper when he was felled, so there’s no changing that decision.
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RED CARD! Sanchez (Chelsea)
4 min: United have flown out of the traps, and they get a big reward now. Bayindir launches long. Sesko rises above Chalobah and flicks on to release Mbeumo down the middle. Mbeumo is free! Just as he reaches the edge of the D, Sanchez races out of the box and cleans the striker out. The referee doesn’t need to think. Out comes the red card. The easiest decision he’ll have for a while.
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3 min: United have started well, though, and when Dorgu crosses from the left, Mbeumo has a header parried by Sanchez at the far post. United come again, and James is forced into a last-ditch challenge to block Dorgu before he can shoot.
2 min: It is absolutely lashing down, and there’s no let-up forecast.
1 min: United are on the front foot early doors, Mazraoui and De Ligt driving down the right as the rain drives down everywhere. Cucurella not for budging.
Manchester United get the ball rolling. Chelsea will kick towards the Stretford End during this first half.
The teams are out! Manchester United in their storied red, white and black, Chelsea in their famous royal blue. It’s coming down stair-rods in Manchester; in other breaking news, the aforementioned Pope is Catholic. We’ll be off in a minute!
Let’s have a rummage around the pre-match postbag ... and by the looks of the contents, Ruben Amorim has lost the crowd.
“Any sign of a Papal Bull at Old Trafford? After all, there’s been plenty of another kind of bull there over the last 12 months” – Gary Naylor
“Fortunately this is only football. Imagine Amorim as a general. ‘Sir, our troops are being slaughtered.’ ‘Look son. Not even the Pope could make me change my system. Carry on!’” – Mary Waltz
“Shaw was atrocious at left centre-back position last week, as Bruno’s been in midfield each and every game; so it’s kinda weird Yoro’s out and Shaw’s still in and United’s been set up in last week’s exact formation of midfield and attack. What was the definition of insanity?” – Karen Asad
“Win or lose today, Amorim must go. There’s no place for this inflexibility in the Premier League” – Jeff Sax
Speaking of Garnacho, our man Jamie Jackson is at the ground, and the following dispatch will not come as a huge shock. “Garnacho entered late to the warm-up and to sizeable boos. He is continuing to be jeered.”
Enzo Maresca talks to Sky. “Overall the change we made today is to rotate a little bit … it is very difficult to go with the same players every time … Wes [Fofana] is ready … [Estevao brings] energy and quality … we need him … we need all the rest of the attacking players … [erstwhile United winger Alejandro Garnacho] already showed against Bayern and Brentford that he can help us … hopefully we can give him some minutes … every game is difficult … Man United away is a very complicated game.”
Ruben Amorim speaks to Sky Sports. “The first thing is to try to show the image of the last game and work on that … put more men in the box … we have to defend our box … use our full speed to recover position … be really focused … aggression and focus is something we have to improve … the crucial moments we have to do better … Harry Maguire’s ability to defend the box … in this moment we need the experience … we always try to put our best 11 against the opponents and Maguire is in that 11 today … we cannot risk players [like the returning duo of Matheus Cunha and Mason Mount] … we have other players … our focus is the thing we need to change … it is not to change the players all the time … it is to believe what we are doing … we cannot lose Matheus and Mason for many games.”
The 3pm results are in, and they don’t bring good news for Manchester United. Burnley and Nottingham Forest’s 1-1 draw means both clubs leapfrog them in the Premier League table, leaving them one spot off the relegation places. Now, that might not mean very much so early in the season, but the optics aren’t great. Having said all that, three points will catapult them into the top half and things will look so much rosier come 7.30pm. Chelsea meanwhile are bumped down to sixth after Crystal Palace’s 2-1 win at West Ham, but they can go second this evening with victory.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 5 | 6 | 15 |
| 2 | Tottenham Hotspur | 5 | 7 | 10 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 4 | 8 | 9 |
| 4 | Crystal Palace | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| 5 | AFC Bournemouth | 4 | 1 | 9 |
| 6 | Chelsea | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| 7 | Sunderland | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| 8 | Everton | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| 9 | Leeds | 5 | -3 | 7 |
| 10 | Man City | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| 11 | Newcastle | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| 12 | Fulham | 4 | -1 | 5 |
| 13 | Brighton | 5 | -2 | 5 |
| 14 | Nottm Forest | 5 | -4 | 5 |
| 15 | Brentford | 4 | -2 | 4 |
| 16 | Burnley | 5 | -3 | 4 |
| 17 | Man Utd | 4 | -3 | 4 |
| 18 | West Ham | 5 | -8 | 3 |
| 19 | Aston Villa | 4 | -4 | 2 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton | 5 | -9 | 0 |
Chelsea’s manager has also been telling it as he sees it. None of it good news for Raheem Sterling or Axel Disasi. No splicing of the mainbrace for them.
… so Amorim sticks with Bayindir, and he’s also sticking with that formation. No great surprise there, to be fair, with United’s manager never missing an opportunity to assert his MO.
Manchester United make two changes to the team that started the 3-0 defeat at Manchester City. Harry Maguire and Casemiro come in for Leny Yoro and Manuel Ugarte, both of whom are benched. Altay Bayindir again gets the nod ahead of new keeper Senne Lammens.
Chelsea also make two changes in the wake of defeat, theirs that 3-1 loss at Bayern Munich. Wesley Fofana and Estêvão replace Tosin Adarabioyo and Malo Gusto, who drop to the bench.
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The teams
Manchester United: Bayindir, Mazraoui, de Ligt, Maguire, Dorgu, Casemiro, Fernandes, Shaw, Mbeumo, Diallo, Sesko.
Subs: Lammens, Mount, Cunha, Zirkzee, Yoro, Ugarte, Heaven, Fredricson, Mainoo.
Chelsea: Sanchez, James, Chalobah, Fofana, Cucurella, Fernandez, Caicedo, Estevao, Palmer, Pedro Neto, Joao Pedro.
Subs: Adarabioyo, Bynoe-Gittens, Jorgensen, Santos, Hato, Gusto, George, Guiu, Garnacho.
Referee: Peter Bankes (Merseyside).
VAR: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire).
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Preamble
This isn’t exactly a world exclusive, but here it is anyway: Manchester United aren’t in the best nick at the moment. While it’s true they can boast the second-best xG in the Premier League so far this season (8.3), they’ve got the fourth-worst xG against (6.9) and in any case statistics can only keep you so warm at night when the realpolitik is four matches, four points, and a shellacking in the Manchester derby. A grim enough state of affairs without the need to bring Grimsby Town into it.
But! If there’s a fixture that could rekindle some hope around Old Trafford, and belatedly kick-start United’s season, it’s Chelsea at home. United are unbeaten in 12 in this fixture, since Juan Mata, then a Blue, scored a late winner in May 2013; pull back the viewfinder a little further, and Chelsea have only won this fixture twice in the last 20 years.
Factor in Chelsea’s painful energy-sapping lesson in Munich earlier this week, suffered while United had their feet up studying Ruben’s Big Book of Plays, and this game has perhaps arrived at exactly the right time for the under-pressure Amorim and his men. Having said all that, Chelsea are unbeaten in three against United, winning two, while their domestic performances, admittedly imperfect, have been a damn sight better than those of today’s hosts. All of which is a long-winded way of suggesting that tonight’s match could go either way, and as a result should be great fun. Kick-off is at 5.30pm UK time. It’s on!
