Chelsea v Manchester United: match odds, form, tactics & verdict

Premier League: Chelsea v Man Utd

Where to watch

Sky Sports Premier League & Main Event, 8pm Monday

Match odds

17-20 Chelsea, 7-2 Man Utd, 27-10 draw

Form

Chelsea have hit a rocky patch as their comfortable cushion in the Champions League qualification battle continues to be whittled down after a run of just four wins in the last 13 Premier League fixtures.

Frank Lampard's fourth-placed side have been particularly sloppy at home, losing to West Ham, Bournemouth and Southampton without scoring as well as failing to beat ten-man Arsenal in a 2-2 draw among their last six Stamford Bridge outings.

Manchester United have also had a miserable league campaign in 2020, failing to score in four of their five outings since the start of the year with the only goals and win coming against bottom club Norwich.

With the exception of a 2-0 defeat to Burnley, it has been a difficult run with matches against Arsenal, Liverpool, Burnley and Wolves, who they also played twice in the FA Cup, squeezing through 1-0 in a replay following a 0-0 draw at Molineux.

Team news

Lampard is hopeful that Christian Pulisic will return, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek is back in training but lacks match fitness.

Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba remain long-term absentees and this game could come too soon for Scott McTominay. Nemanja Matic returns from suspension and new January arrival Odion Ighalo goes straight into the squad.

The tactical battle

Chelsea ditched the three centre-back formation that was so successful in the 2-0 win at Tottenham before Christmas following a woeful first half against Arsenal a week later.

Lampard has since gone with variations of 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 but it will be interesting to see who he selects in goal. Kepa was dropped for the 2-2 draw at Leicester last week when replacement Willy Caballero failed to cover himself in glory.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would be well advised to ask his United side to adopt a shoot-on-sight policy given that Chelsea are 19th of 20 teams in expected goals-against compared to actual goals-against.

Unfortunately for Solskjaer his side have struggled in the attacking third without Rashford hence the panic signing of Ighalo, which could ease the load placed on Anthony Martial.

Ighalo's loan was mocked in places and his fitness needs to be taken on trust. But the Nigerian was the top scorer at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations and bagged 46 goals in 72 Chinese Super League appearances.

Verdict

This is a tricky match to call given Lampard and Solskjaer, both of whom won the Champions League as players for their clubs, are struggling to find consistency in results and performances.

Thirteen-goal Chelsea hitman Tammy Abraham has gone quiet with two goals in his last ten league matches, while United have failed to score in four of their last five top-flight fixtures. Under 2.5 goals appeals and a 1-1 draw looks the best correct-score bet.

Key stats

• Chelsea have allowed only 76 shots on target, just six more than Liverpool, but have conceded 19 more goals
• Blues penalty-taker Jorginho has scored 20 of his 21 spot-kicks
• United have won only once in the league at Stamford Bridge in their last 17 attempts and have never done a Premier League double over Chelsea
• Eight of United's last ten matches against top-flight opponents have featured no more than two goals

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