Chelsea vs Manchester United - Preview and Odds

Published on: 21/10/2016

Chelsea: WWLLD
Manchester United: DDWLL

Two teams with title aspirations will go head-to-head on Sunday as fifth-ranked Chelsea take on big spenders Manchester United in the weekends standout fixture.

Chelsea will enter the weekend just three points adrift of the league leaders but that could all change by the time they kick off late on Sunday afternoon. Whatever the result of the games involving their top four rivals, a win would keep the Blues right in the hunt for the ultimate prize.

New boss Antonio Conte hit the ground running at the Bridge with three-straight wins and was instantly lauded by the press. Just three games later after a draw against Swansea City and defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal, the fickle media were speculating about his future.

The Londoners responded in the perfect way with back-to-back wins against Hull City and Leicester City and will come into this game in buoyant mood. Chelsea have scored in all of their home games and all but one of their matches have produced over 2.5 goals. However, they might find goals harder to come by this weekend.

Opponents Manchester United are struggling to keep pace with the leaders in the title race and need a positive result from this game to get their campaign back on track.

After spending over £140m in the summer and recruiting former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho, it was expected that the Red Devils would be right in the mix for the Premier League title. However, with just eight games played, the 20-time former champions are already five points off the pace and three points adrift of the all-important top four.

With just one win from their last five league games, defeat on Sunday could see them cut further adrift. And while it may be too early to panic, there would certainly be questions asked about the progress being made.

The controversial Portuguese boss was widely lauded for his teams tactical performance last Monday, when they claimed at point at Anfield. But some fans were not happy with the fact that he seemed uninterested in actually winning the clubs biggest derby game.

Even when Alex Ferguson played cautiously at Anfield, his teams always pushed for the win. Yet there was little sign of that from the Manchester club on Monday. The question remains as to whether he will take a more positive approach against his former club this weekend.

Team News

Chelsea are still without Marco van Ginkel (knee) and Kurt Zouma (ACL), while the visitors should have a full strength squad to choose from providing they come through their Europa League clash unscathed.

Prediction

Once again, Mourinho can be expected to keep things tight, while breaking on the counter-attack should the opportunity arrive. As a result, a low scoring game can be expected. Punters should take note that seven out of the last eight encounters between these two sides have produced Under 2.5 goals.

You can back under 2.5 goals at 4/5 with Bet365.

Published on: 21/10/2016

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (21/10/2016 00:50:59) but are subject to change.