Chelsea prepares for Manchester trip after Bayern defeat.
Manchester United welcome Chelsea to Old Trafford on Saturday, September 20, in one of the standout fixtures of the Premier League weekend, with kick-off set for 17:30 [GMT+1].
This historic rivalry has delivered countless memorable moments, and the statistics suggest another intriguing contest is on the cards. United have an impressive home record against Chelsea in recent years, going unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League meetings at Old Trafford. Their last home defeat to the Blues came back in May 2013, and since then they’ve managed five wins and seven draws. Chelsea’s overall win rate of just 18% at the Theatre of Dreams (six victories in 33 visits) is their lowest away from home against any side they’ve faced at least 10 times in the competition. Historically, this fixture has been one of the most closely fought in Premier League history. Chelsea vs Manchester United is the competition’s most drawn matchup, ending level 27 times. Fourteen of those draws have come at Old Trafford, making it the second most common draw at a single venue, behind only Everton vs Tottenham at Goodison Park. United [LDWL], who are in 14th place with four points, following last weekend’s embarrassing 3-0 loss in the Manchester derby, have shown some signs of improvement at home, winning two of their last three matches at Old Trafford. That’s as many as in their previous 11 combined. An unconvincing Ruben Amorim will be hoping his side can string consecutive home wins together in the same season for the first time since December 2023. A 3—4—2—1 formation with Benjamin Šeško in attack is expected here.
Despite a brace from Cole Palmer, Chelsea will be looking to quickly forget the 3-1 loss to Bayern Munich on UCL Match Day 1. The Blues had fallen behind by two goals in the 27th minute before Palmer struck to halve the deficit. However, Harry Kane struck for the second time to snuff out all hopes of a comeback. ‘I think the players were already aware of how difficult this competition is,' Enzo Maresca said. 'You cannot make mistakes in the way we did, but it is a game that I think we can learn a lot from and build something special from this defeat,' he added. They head north with belief despite the European setback. Encouragingly, the Blues have won two of their last three Premier League encounters against United – as many as in the previous 17 combined. It’s a record Enzo Maresca would like to build on. João Pedro is expected at the attacking end of Chelsea’s 4—2—3—1 formation.