Manchester United vs Chelsea – English Premier League – Preview

Posted on December 28, 2015 by Sreya

Manchester United host Chelsea at the Old Trafford on 28th December as pressure continues to mount on Louis van Gaal in face of their unraveling English Premier League season.

Manchester United have had a disastrous December, getting knocked out of the UEFA Champions League and now sit on the sixth position in league standings. Chelsea, who picked up one point against Watford during Guus Hiddink’s first game in charge, are fifteenth in league table with nineteen points.

Team News

Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo and Antonio Valencia are the long-term injury concerns for the home side. While Matteo Darmian might return from his hamstring injury, Jesse Lingaard has been listed as a doubt. Bastian Schweinsteiger returns to the matchday squad after serving a three-game suspension. Wayne Rooney is likely to feature as well after the Manchester United captain was dropped for tactical reasons during the 2-0 loss at Britannia Stadium on Saturday.

Diego Costa is suspended after the Chelsea forward picked up his fifth yellow for the season against Watford. Falcao and Eden Hazard continue to remain doubts with their match fitness being the cause of concern ahead of the crucial tie.

Manchester United Possible Starting Lineup: David de Gea, Ashley Young, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Daley Blind, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Morgan Schneiderlin, Juan Mata, Ander Herrera, Anthony Martial, Wayne Rooney.

Chelsea Possible Starting Lineup: Thibaut Courtois, Branislav Ivanovic, Gary Cahill, John Terry, Cesar Azpilicueta, Cesc Fabregas, Nemanja Matic, Willian, Oscar, Eden Hazard, Loic Remy.

Thoughts From Both Camps

“You can say we can quickly get over this defeat by playing against Chelsea but in the time in between, you have to recover because the players have given everything. Then you have to manage that you are very confident to start the Chelsea game, and that you dare to play football – our football! It is very difficult to do that in just two days but we shall try.”

– Louis van Gaal, Manchester United.

“Every Chelsea versus Manchester United game is big but this one is especially of course. I hope we can show the same ambition there that we showed in a big part of this game [against Watford].”

– Guus Hiddink, Chelsea.

Contributor’s Pick

According to Head-2-Head statistics, Manchester United have not won against Chelsea in any of their previous six meetings with the London-based club, with four wins in favor of the defending champions.

Manchester United also come into the game on the back of three consecutive losses, having been winless in their last five games.

On current form, Chelsea should win the match by a 2-1 margin.