EPL Week 9: Chelsea vs Manchester United Preview

The big game happening this Sunday is Chelsea vs Manchester United and it will be the first time that Jose Mourinho will face his old club since he was sacked last season. Chelsea has a great record against Man U as they are unbeaten since 2012. They will be hoping that the run continues to prove that they got it right by sacking the “special one”. I do not expect it to be a high scoring match as the last eight encounters have been won by a single goal apart from one game. New Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is still finding his feet in the Premier League but will have his players fired up for this battle between two of the best teams in the league.

Chelsea Recent Form

The Blues under their new manager did not get off to the best of starts with players struggling to adapt to the manager’s new tactical system. In recent games, though their form has improved with wins over Hill City along with Leicester City and will be hoping that it continues on Sunday. Man U will be a real test to see how far they have come since the arrival of Italian manager Conte. So far this season they have not done well against the best teams in the league. They have lost to both Arsenal and Liverpool so will want to show that they are genuine title contenders by beating the Red Devils.

Manchester United Form

After a great start to the campaign Man United’s form has dropped in recent weeks. They managed a respectable draw at Liverpool but followed that up with an another draw against Stoke City. Before those two games, it looked like Mourinho had managed to find his best team as they thrashed last year’s champions Leicester City. They will need a big performance from record buy Pogba if they are going to get anything from the game. After a slow start, the player seems to be finding his feet in the league and it will be up to him to give the leadership that the Red Devils have been missing in recent season.

Injuries and Suspensions

Chelsea will be without both Willian and Oscar who are both in Brazil on compassionate leave due to deaths in their families.and it is not known if either will return back in time to play in the game.John Obi Mikel, CescFabregas, and BranislavIvanovic will all face late fitness tests due to suffering from knocks in earlier matches.

Manchester United are in slightly better shape with regards injuries as they just have out Anthony Martial and Morgan Schneiderlin with both players suffering from muscle and knee injuries. Defender Phil Jones is a long-term injury and not expected back anytime soon but there is good news on HenrikhMkhitaryan as he is expected back from injury. Mourinho will be hoping that the team does not suffer from any more injuries when they play Fenerbahce in the Europa League on Thursday.

Chelsea vs Manchester United Prediction

As we have seen with all the teams that compete in the Europa League the players struggle to be fully match fit in time to play on Sunday. With Chelsea having the home advantage I am predicting that they will win 1 – 0. However, both managers like to set up their teams to be defensive so it could end up in a 0 – 0 draw. Check out the best odds from the top online bookmakers by visiting bestbettingwebsites.org.uk