Manchester United and Chelsea face each other in the opening round of the 2019-20 Premier League season, in what is the match to look forward to in the opening week. Both clubs have two former players – legends – as their managers and both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Frank Lampard will have a lot of people to prove wrong in the 2019-20 season.
With the two teams facing off on Sunday, let’s take a look at 5 players to watch out for:
Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Manchester United’s new right-back is an exciting signing for the fans as he is a player who can contribute in attack and defence, with his useful dribbling as well as strong tackling. The 21-year-old English full-back has been impressive in pre-season and looks to have settled into this Manchester United side very well.
He, along with another new signing Harry Maguire, as well as centre-back Victor Lindelof, and left-back Luke Shaw make this United backline much stronger, with the added safety of goalkeeper David de Gea behind them.
Ross Barkley
Ross Barkley could have a breakthrough year of sorts at Chelsea in the 2019-20 season, as he could become one of Chelsea’s chief threats in attack. Barkley will have to shoulder the responsibility of scoring a share of the goals following the departure of star player Eden Hazard. Lampard has picked Barkley or young Mason Mount in the attacking midfield role in pre-season, and both of them have impressed.
Against United, Barkley could exploit the Red Devils’ midfield, which can have lapses in concentration, and get into pockets of space to attack the United goal.
Marcus Rashford
The 2019-20 season will be the toughest season yet for Marcus Rashford as Solskjaer is set to make him his main striker of the team, following the departure of Romelu Lukaku. Rashford has the pace, power and technique to get past defenders, but his finishing has been suspect, at times.
The English striker could be up against Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen in the Chelsea defence on Sunday, neither of whom are world-class defenders yet. It will be an interesting battle between Rashford and the Chelsea centre-backs.
Christian Pulisic
20-year-old Christian Pulisic will have a lot of pressure to deliver this season for Chelsea as he will most likely take up Eden Hazard’s position in the Chelsea team and will be expected to deliver goals and assists. A quick and skilful attacker, Pulisic – who moved from Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea this summer – could cause trouble for the United defence on Sunday. He will most likely be Chelsea’s chief creator from wide areas and will hope to have a major impact on his new team.
Harry Maguire
The world’s costliest defender, Harry Maguire has finally moved from Leicester City to Manchester United and will have to ensure that his new team are much better than last season in defence. The English central defender could be thrown into the game against Chelsea despite not playing a single minute for Manchester United yet. He has, though, played for Leicester City in pre-season and is match fit. Maguire will be up against Olivier Giroud or Tammy Abraham on Sunday, neither of whom are unmanageable, but will have a tough game against a Chelsea team that can surprise United with their pace in wide areas.
