It’s a football game with enough domestic history to get you intrigued, but it’s no surprise that these two sides come into the game from drastically different positions.
Chelsea is currently living in the land of milk and honey, there’s almost a rhythm and beat to life at Stamford Bridge now. United are a bit of a wounded animal, they’ve lost their manager and will once again attempt to rebuild. Some might even suggest this is the perfect game for them to play…
English Premier League
Sunday 28 November
Stamford Bridge
18:30
To Win
Chelsea 11/20
Chelsea 11/20
Draw 3/1
Manchester United 46/10
Manchester United 46/10
Chelsea
How silly did we look! What were we thinking suggesting that the Chelsea defence was vulnerable and ready to be taken advantage of? I thought Leicester would be a real threat in the final third and ask real questions of Thomas Tuchel’s defensive wall, we all knew the Foxes leak goals and so ultimately both teams to score was a set bet.
The reality, however, is that Chelsea suffocated Leicester, suffocated them to the point that there was no point in that game where the home side looked like they could score. This is a side who under Brendan Rodgers have an average of 3.11 total goals per match over their past two seasons.
We’ve all heard the lamentation that Championship winning teams can grind out results, and I completely agree, but in this Chelsea team, you have a side who continue to be clinical and comfortable in front of goal whilst maintaining a seemingly unmatchable aggression in defence.
I must be honest, I’m not sure what else I can say about this Chelsea side without sounding like a bit of a stuck record. But when you have a side who have not conceded more than a single goal in a game so far this season (twelve in total), with defenders have scored 43% of the goals and a team who have conceded just one more goal that Mourinho’s 2004/05 side – you start to get the picture…
Manchester United
It’s difficult to ascertain United’s position at the moment. I think it was the correct decision to part ways with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but the issues at that football club run much deeper than that.
The individual brilliance available at United is well documented, the stature and pedigree which underpins Old Trafford is also accepted…but none of that really makes a difference if there is a disconnect between management and the team on the ground. United have lost a bit of their identity on the field, and I say that with the greatest amount of respect. Solskjaer did an incredible job in restoring the culture and heartbeat, he’ll always be a club legend, but the football was difficult to watch at times.
United have no base to launch any sort of potent attack, and inevitably that eliminates their best players from the game. There is a severe lack of intensity when they lose the ball and in the Premier League that will always be punished. The Red Devils have won just once from their last five games – shipping an embarrassing 15 goals in the process!
I know we haven’t even reached December yet, but surely the focus is now to almost save face or selvage a degree of self-respect and look forward to the next season (listen at me, I’m starting to sound like those ‘next season’ fans already).
Prediction: Chelsea + Over 2.5 (15/10)
Chelsea wins this game, there’s no two ways about it, but at the same time I think goals might be the order of the day. The Blues have such a variety to their attacking nuances, I just can’t see how United deal with it – and believe me I’m trying.
From a betting point of view, backing the over 2.5 goal adage not only gets us a 15/10 price…it also just makes sense. Nobody would be surprised to see Chelsea boss the fixture, especially playing at the Bridge. United have the attacking quality to contribute to the goals on the day should they get the chance. Oh, and did I mention United haven’t seen a single game, away from home, end with less than three goals since travelling to Wolves in August?
Get stuck into this, and add it to the weekend multiples and the odd double, treble or quad too!
Written by Ryan Liberty