Manchester United vs Chelsea Lineups, Preview, Prediction & Odds

Manchester United vs Chelsea has become synonymous with being a pretty boring game after two drab games last season, but generally, in wider recent history this game delivers. These two teams may never have been further apart in terms of aspirations and their current status in the last 30 years, with Chelsea looking at Champions League qualification as the bare minimum, meanwhile United are in crisis mode, might sack their Manager and are looking at a second consecutive bottom half finish, which will be a first in the Premier League era. This same fixture last season delivered a 1-1 draw that was low in quality, but both sides have added a lot of attacking firepower since then so we are hoping for a better this time around. Both teams enter this game coming off disappointing results last weekend, with Chelsea conceding a stoppage time equaliser to relegation candidates Brentford, and Manchester United were handily beaten 3-0 by their noisy neighbours Manchester City. This weekend, Chelsea will look to get their season moving in the right direction after a disappointing start, and will look to put the gulf in quality between these two teams on full display; meanwhile United will looking to take anything from this game in order to steady the sinking ship that is Amorim’s United tenure.

• Will we get a more exciting attacking game than last season?
• Could Cunha be fit for this game?
• If Manchester United lose this game, could this be Amorim’s last game?

Find out all of that and much more in our preview of Manchester United vs Chelsea. We have a match preview, live odds, predicted lineups, team and injury news, our score prediction and more for this GW5 matchup.

Match Details:

Fixture: Manchester United vs Chelsea

Stadium: Old Trafford

Date: Saturday 20th

Kick-off: 5:30pm

Premier League Head-to-Head Record:

The recent head-to-head between these two teams makes for odd reading. We had two drab games last season, a 1-1 draw and 1-0 Chelsea win at home, where the tempo of both games was slow, and the attacking levels displayed were not of the standard of a big 6 match. However in the 23/24 season we had 10 goals in the 2 league games, a 4-3 win for Chelsea at home and a 2-1 win for United at home. Crazy stuff. Clearly the change in the Managers last season has affected how this game plays out in quite a significant manner. Over the past 5 league meetings, things are dead even between the two sides, with 2 wins for Chelsea, 2 wins for Manchester United and then last season’s 1-1 draw mixed in there.

Manchester United Chelsea Last 5 Premier League Results

16/05/25 - Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United

03/11/24 - Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea

04/04/24 - Chelsea 4-3 Manchester United

06/12/23 - Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea

25/05/23 - Manchester United 4-1 Chelsea

Chelsea Overview and Form:

Chelsea have had an inconsistent and somewhat disappointing start to the new season. A draw in the opening week against Palace, was followed up by 2 wins over West Ham and Fulham without Cole Palmer, and subsequently followed that up with a poor performance against Brentford last weekend where they trailed for the majority of the game, then took the lead, but then gave up the lead in the final minutes in a 2-2 draw. They will want to get back to winning ways with a mostly fit squad heading in to this game against Manchester United.

The Blues do look pretty solid defensively despite losing Levi Colwill for the season to an ACL tear. They have only conceded 3 goals in their first 4 games and 2 of those goals came last weekend against Brentford without their best defender, Cucurella, in the lineup. They will look to stifle a poor United attack that do not create high quality chances (they create decent volume) and is missing arguably it’s best player in Cunha.

From an attacking standpoint, Joao Pedro has been a massive addition to this Chelsea team. While not a typical striker and he does lack in some striker insticts, his link up play, dribbling ability, and ability to score goals from many spots on the pitch and in many situations, has been huge for Chelsea. Palmer and Estevao returning to the starting lineup will also be a huge boost, with Buonanotte and Gittens failing to make any impact in their places.

Manchester United Overview and Form:

Manchester United are in the midst of their worst stretch of games under any Manager in their Premier League history. Amorim now has 38 points from 38 games – 1 point a game. While talk of relegation is probably premature, it’s not inconceivable if things continue as is. Amorim is completely committed to his system which has obvious flaws and holes for opposing Managers to take advantage of.

United played well and were the better team against Arsenal overall in the opener, but poor GK play cost them in that game and Arsenal took all 3 points. They followed that up with a 1-1 draw to Fulham, conceding a late equaliser which Smith-Rowe essentially said was Fulham picking holes in United’s tactical set-up. Then came a horrendous loss to Grimsby in the League Cup. The League Cup exit was followed up by a somewhat embarrassing 3-2 win over Burnley where they needed a last minute penalty to save them from further embarrassment, and then last weekend they suffered a 3-0 defeat to Manchester City that honestly could have been 6-0 – United were abysmal.

United don’t progress the ball centrally, and so they don’t create high quality chances very often. Everything comes from the wing-backs. They create a good number of chances but not actually high quality ones – so they don’t actually score goals. Bruno Fernandes playing deeper has been a failed experiment. Defensively, the midfield gets completely overran with 2 bodies vs 3 or sometimes 4 in there, and Fernandes does not track runners or execute his defensive responsibilities to a high level because that is just not the player he is. United’s back-5 is a mess right now, as was on full display against City last weekend. They can’t play a high line because their defenders can’t handle it, but they can’t play a low-block because their GK’s are terrible and also the fan base won’t accept that kind of football. It’s a mess.

In this game against Chelsea, my guess is United will resort to playing how they did against Arsenal and tried to against City, which is to press high and then drop into a mid block if that fails, and see if they can create chances on the counter or getting the wing-backs the ball in settled possession. Mbeumo, Sesko and Amad will have to carry the load and perform well if United are to score. However, United are firstly not very good and certainly not flexible or resilient, so if they concede first, things could get ugly.

Match Betting Odds:

Manchester United: 8/5

Draw: 14/5

Chelsea: 29/20

Both Teams to Score Odds:

Yes: 1/2

No: 6/4

Player to Score Odds:

Sesko: 6/4

Palmer: 6/4

Joao Pedro: 6/4

 

 

Lineups will be updated throughout the week in live time as and when injury and lineup news is announced.

To head back to our main predicted lineups hub, click here.

Manchester United Predicted Lineup:

Manchester United Predicted Lineup GW5

GK - Bayindir

RWB - Amad

CB - De Ligt

CB - Maguire

CB - Yoro

LWB - Dorgu

CM - Casemiro

CM - Fernandes

RAM - Mbeumo

LAM - Cunha

ST - Sesko

Manchester United Team News:

Amorim, speaking to the press on Friday revealed some hugely positive news for Manchester United’s outlook against Chelsea. Amorim said, speaking on injuries “Dalot is out. Mase (Mount) is in the squad. Cunha is in the squad. Martinez is still out. That is it”. Huge news to have Cunha and Mount back fit and able to be in the squad. Now Amorim did not confirm just how fit both are and whether both are ready to start, but I have to assume if they can be in the squad, they should be fit enough to start and play 55-65 minutes this weekend.

Amorim, speaking last Friday, confirmed Bayindir will continue to start. He said on the matter “Altay is going to continue because we need to. This game is clear. Altay will start. It’s a show of faith in Altay.” We will see how Bayindir performs and how this situation progresses over the coming weeks with new goalkeeper Lammens in the fray but he should start again against Chelsea.

With Cunha back, Amad can move back to right wing-back and Mazraoui moves back to the bench. United’s attack looked so much more dynamic with Amad at RWB.

Maguire surely starts over Luke Shaw, which would shift De Ligt to RCB and Yoro to LCB. Maguire is the better player than Shaw and offers more defensively and in the oppositions box from set pieces.

Casemiro will surely partner Fernandes in midfield. Ugarte has been a car crash of late.

Manchester United Players to Watch:

Cunha: Amorim confirms he is back and will be in the squad.

Bayindir: Will continue to start for now.

Mazraoui: Drops to bench with Amad playing RWB.

Casemiro: Better than Ugarte

Mount: Same as Cunha, Amorim confirmed Friday Mount is in the squad for Chelsea.

Dalot: Out.

Lammens: Could take Bayindir’s job soon but not in GW5.

Chelsea Predicted Lineup:

Chelsea Predicted Lineup GW5

GK - Sanchez

RB - Gusto

CB - Chalobah

CB - Tosin

LB - Cucurella

CM - Caicedo

CM - Enzo

AM - Palmer

RW - Estevao

LW - Neto

ST - Joao Pedro

Chelsea Team News:

The only real team news Enzo Maresca provided on Saturday was “Cole is okay. We have a session now, we flew back yesterday (Thursday). We need to assess some players, we have some doubts. We didn’t have a session since Wednesday’s game, but we will see”. Good to know that Palmer is okay and fit to start this weekend, but who these players who need to be assessed/are doubts are – we do not know yet. There might be some surprises in that Chelsea starting lineup Saturday.

Maresca was very positive when speaking on Garnacho on Friday. Maresca exclaimed “In the last two games, he was very good when he came on. We are happy with the way he is adapting to our style and what we want from the winger. I think he is ready to start”. Now whether that is ‘he is fit enough to start’ or ‘he will start’ is unknown but it was very definitive from Maresca. I do lean towards Estevao starting as he has had more time with the team, and has played very well in stints this season.

Palmer returned off the bench for Chelsea and changed the game massively when he did. He was also Chelsea’s best player against Bayern in the Champions League and looks like he has refound his elite form that escaped him the past 6 months or so.

Liam Delap left the game against Fulham with a hamstring injury. Delap did not need surgery on his hamstring. Maresca informed the media that “Liam is around 10 to 12 weeks. Long way to go!”. A lengthy layoff for Delap.

Tosin and Chalobah should continue to be the starting centre-back pairing despite Acheampong’s impressive debut in GW1. Lavia was spotted training on grass after his lengthy layout that began during the Club World Cup, and is likely ramping up slowly. He will not feature in GW4.

Chelsea Players to Watch:

James: If he plays against Bayern in the Champions League, which I think he will, he won’t start against United. He does not play more than one a week anymore.

Estevao: Only missed last week due to returning to London late on Thursday from Brazil NT duty. Will start against Man United.

Palmer: Returned from injury off the bench last week and scored Chelsea’s first goal of the game. Will start.

Garnacho: Maresca said he’s ready to start. Whether he will or not, we shall see.

Delap: Out 10-12 weeks.

Manchester United vs Chelsea Preview & Predicted Score:

United and Amorim will stick with their 3-4-2-1 system, of course. No surprises there. Chelsea will play their 4-2-3-1 and simply will and rightly should believe their system is superior to Amorim’s, and their starting XI is far more talented.

After a poor display last weekend against a relegation candidate, Maresca and Chelsea, with Palmer, Cucurella and Estevao back in the starting XI, will look to right those wrongs and handily beat another bottom half team. Chelsea will believe they can dominate possession and chance creation in this game and can limit United to low quality chances created by their wing-backs.

Manchester United will be hoping to replicate their performance from the Arsenal game, except the hope is they actually score this time. They will look to sit in a mid block and counter Chelsea, and hope that Chelsea’s weaker CB pairing means United can get ahead in the game and then the game state changes and United can be happier to defend at home.

Overall, I just think Chelsea will be far too strong with their returning key players. They win the battle on paper in too many areas. Their system and principles and the malleability of those are far superior to Amorim’s right now. Their attacking talent, with Cunha out, is superior. Their midfield talent gap is crazy given these are two big 6 teams, but Chelsea’s is worlds better than Man United’s. And defensively Chelsea are also a better side. And then there is the mentality issue – with things falling apart at United, if they concede early or even in the first half, and they go into the second half trailing, things could get just as ugly as they did against City last weekend. There will surely only be one winner here – the Blues will head back to London with the victory leaving United in further turmoil.

Score Prediction: Manchester United 1-2 Chelsea