Manchester United vs. Chelsea, Premier League: Preview, team news, how to watch
Today at 03:02 PM
In for a Ruud awakening?
It's been a bad weekend for away teams in the Premier League, with only Leicester City earning a point on their travels on Saturday, and both Manchester City and Arsenal suffering shock defeats, to Bournemouth and Newcastle, respectively.
So the prospect of going to Old Trafford, where we have not won in our last eleven tries despite facing, at times, some truly shocking opposition, doesn't sound too enticing right now. (Rafa Benítez the last Chelsea manager to win there.)
But we have earned more points on our travels in the league so far than at home — also shocking — so perhaps we can continue that trend as we take on a team in-between managers at the moment.
"We didn't win there since 2013? Hopefully it is a good time [to be playing them]. That shows how difficult that stadium is; not only for us but for every club."
-Enzo Maresca; source: Football.London
Date / Time: Sunday, November 3, 16.30 GMT; 11:30am EST; 10pm IST
Venue: Old Trafford, Greater Manchester
Referee: Robert Jones (on pitch); Michael Salisbury (VAR)
Forecast: overcast; winter is coming
On TV: Sky Sport Main Event (UK); USA, Telemundo (USA); Star Sports Select HD1 (India); SuperSport Premier League, Canal+ Sport 3 (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: Sky Go (UK); NBC Sports Live, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (USA); Disney+ Hotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA)
Manchester United team news: The long overdue sack finally arrived for Erik ten Hag after a run of just one win in eight games in all competitions culminated in a 2-1 defeat at West Ham last weekend. Rising managerial star Rúben Amorim has been announced as the new man in charge, but he will only take over next weekend. Ruud van Nistelrooy is the interim manager until then, trading in his track suit for some proper threads (not sure about that turtleneck though; and the less said about the shoes, the better).
Still, he won his first game in charge midweek in the League Cup, when a nearly full-strength United easily dispatched a rotated Leicester City, 5-2.
United have had to deal with a few injuries this year, and are among the league-leaders in that category. Currently they are without Kobbie Mainoo, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw (surprise!), Antony, Tyrell Malacia, Leny Yoro, and yes, Mason Mount, too. He's managed just four minutes (plus a good chunk of stoppage time) against us, and 25 appearances overall since leaving.
Chelsea team news: Unlike United, Chelsea rotated fully for our midweek League Cup tie, and we paid the price with defeat at St James'. Of course, that "B" lineup still "should" have been good enough to win, but critical mistakes at either end doomed us to an early exit from the competition that represented one of our better chances for a trophy this season. And that exit now also means fewer opportunities for those B-teamers, with the A-team humming along pretty nicely, suffering defeats only against league-leaders Liverpool and dynastic defending champions Manchester City.
Enzo Maresca seems pretty happy with his Caicedo-Lavia double-six setup that has Malo Gusto inverting into attacking midfield, though he does have a propensity to get too cute for his own good with all this tactical galaxy-braining. Then again, Cole Palmer can single-handedly win a game regardless of any setup shenanigans, and Nicolas Jackson is starting to become a dominant force in leading our line, so goals are almost always on the menu. In fact, the 2-0 on Wednesday was the first time in any competition since opening day that we've failed to score at least one goal.
Of course, we tend to need more than just one — just 2 clean sheets (in 9) in the league, 4 (in 15) in all competitions and none in our last seven — but hey, it's a work in progress, right?
Jadon Sancho is the only first-team player not available, ineligible against his parent club and having missed midweek through illness anyway.
Previously: Our last win at Old Trafford came in 2013, but we did beat United the last time we played, in what was one of the most entertaining games of last season.
