Chelsea vs Manchester United prediction, betting tips and odds: Blues could punish fragile United defence

BetMGM are offering £40 in free bets when you bet on Chelsea vs Manchester United. You can grab your free bets here. 

We’ve included instructions on how to grab your offer later on in this article.

Where to watch Chelsea vs Manchester United

You can watch Chelsea vs Manchester United in the Premier League at 8.15pm on Thursday, April 4, live on TNT Sports 1

Match prediction & best bet

Over 2.5 Chelsea goals
1pt 15-8 Betfair, Paddy Power

You can bet on Chelsea vs Manchester United here and get £40 in free bets with BetMGM

Chelsea vs Manchester United odds

Chelsea Evs
Manchester United 5-2
Draw 3-1

Odds correct at time of publishing

Chelsea vs Manchester United team news

Chelsea
Malo Gusto, Carney Chukwuemeka and Trevoh Chalobah are in training along with goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. The Blues are still missing Ben Chilwell, Levi Colwill, Christopher Nkunku, Reece James, Romeo Lavia, Wesley Fofana and Lesley Ugochukwu.

Manchester United
Raphael Varane and Jonny Evans should be available but fellow centre-backs Lisandro Martinez and Victor Lindelof are out. Amad Diallo is back from a ban and Mason Mount is pushing for a start but Luke Shaw, Anthony Martial and Tyrell Malacia are injured.

Chelsea vs Manchester United predictions

Punters assessing the Premier League fixture between Chelsea and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge may feel as though they are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

United were woeful in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Brentford, conceding a 99th-minute equaliser against a Bees side who had 31 attempts at goal and hit the woodwork four times.

However, that display is well and truly factored into Chelsea's odds as the Blues are around even-money to pick up three points – something they failed to do at home to relegation-threatened Burnley at the weekend.

Dara O'Shea's 81st-minute equaliser earned the Clarets a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge, despite having Lorenz Assignon sent off in the first half, and those weekend results have increased the pressure on Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino and his United counterpart Erik ten Hag.

They were the two leading candidates for the Old Trafford job towards the end of the 2021-22 season but neither coach haS enhanced his reputation this term.

Chelsea start the midweek round of fixtures with a goal difference of +2 while fellow Premier League giants United have scored just 40 goals in 29 games and conceded exactly the same number.

Injuries have been a factor in both clubs' struggles. Christopher Nkunku and Romeo Lavia, two of Chelsea's big summer signings, have played 318 and 32 minutes of Premier League football respectively while captain Reece James is another significant absentee.

And United's defensive problems deepened as Victor Lindelof and Raphael Varane both came off injured at Brentford and Lisandro Martinez has suffered a setback in training.

The Red Devils looked set for a smash-and-grab win against the Bees when substitute Mason Mount, another long-term injury absentee, put them 1-0 up in injury-time.

Even then, though, they couldn't close out the game and their unconvincing defence may buckle against a dangerous Chelsea attacking unit.

Since their 1-0 defeat to Liverpool in the EFL Cup final, Chelsea have beaten Leeds 3-2 and Leicester 4-2 in the FA Cup and their last three league results were 2-2 draws with Brentford and Burnley either side of a 3-2 home win over Newcastle.

Their expected-goals figure of around 58 compares favourably to those of Champions League-chasing Aston Villa and Tottenham and they have drawn 2-2 with Arsenal and 4-4 with Manchester City at home this term.

Creating chances has been one of the few reliable aspects of Chelsea's inconsistent first season under Pochettino and they are worth backing to score over 2.5 goals against a United side whose weekend performance suggested they are cruising for a bruising.

Key stat

Chelsea have scored at least twice in eight of their last ten Premier League home matches 

Probable teams

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Petrovic; Disasi, Silva, Badiashile, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Palmer, Gallagher, Sterling; Jackson
Subs: Mudryk, Madueke, Gusto, Chukwuemeka, Washington, Chalobah, Chilwell

Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Onana; Dalot, Varane, Maguire, Wan-Bissaka; Mainoo, McTominay; Garnacho, Fernandes, Rashford; Hojlund
Subs: Mount, Evans, Casemiro, Antony, Eriksen, Amrabat, Diallo

Inside info

Chelsea

Star man Cole Palmer
Top scorer Cole Palmer
Penalty taker Cole Palmer
Card magnet Nicolas Jackson
Assist ace Cole Palmer
Set-piece aerial threat Axel Disasi

Manchester United

Star man Bruno Fernandes
Top scorer Rasmus Hojlund
Penalty taker Bruno Fernandes
Card magnet Bruno Fernandes
Assist ace Bruno Fernandes
Set-piece aerial threat Harry Maguire

Chelsea vs Manchester United bet builder predictions

Over 3.5 goals
Nine of Chelsea's last 11 league and cup games featured over 3.5 goals and Brentford had 31 shots against Manchester United on Saturday

Cole Palmer to score or assist a goal
A rare hit in the transfer market for the Blues, Palmer scored twice against Burnley and has 13 goals and eight assists in 20 Premier League starts

Marc Cucurella to be shown a card
The Chelsea left-back is still getting up to speed after an injury-disrupted season and he has picked up six yellow cards in just ten league starts

Pays out at 9-1 with Paddy Power

Grab £40 in BetMGM free bets when you bet on Chelsea vs Manchester United

We’ve already mentioned that BetMGM are offering £40 in free bets when you bet on Chelsea vs Manchester United in the Premier League.

Here is how you can claim this BetMGM £40 free betting offer when you place a qualifying bet on Chelsea vs Manchester United

• Head over to BetMGM through this link to sign up
• Click the sign-up button and follow the process to fill in your details
• Place a £10 qualifying bet at minimum odds of 2.0 (EVS)
• Once your qualifying bet settles, 4x £10 free bets will be automatically credited to your account
• Note that your 4x £10 free bets apply to different markets, so ensure you read full T&Cs

BetMGM betting sign-up offer: terms and conditions

It's worth taking a few minutes to read through the terms and conditions associated with the new player promotion before signing up. Doing so will help you get a better grasp of the details of this BetMGM betting offer and what's expected of you as a new player.

The promotion from BetMGM gives you 4x £10 free bets to place across racing, football and other relevant markets. Some betting tokens are only applicable to certain sports, so it’s worth taking a minute to read through the T&Cs of this offer.

• New customers only
• Customers have seven days to place a qualifying bet to receive 4x Free Bets: 1x £10 Horseracing, 1x £10 bet builder, 1x £10 acca and 1x £10 football
• Seven-day expiry
• Exclusions apply
• Stakes are not returned
• Further T&Cs apply
• 18+. For more info visit www.begambleaware.org

Click for free bets and betting offers from the Racing Post

Commercial notice: This article contains affiliate links. Offers are handpicked and come from operators our experts have first-hand experience of. Opening an account via one of these links will earn revenue for the Racing Post, which will be used to continue producing our award-winning coverage of horseracing and sports betting.