Manchester United will kick off their 2019-20 Premier League campaign with a mouth-watering fixture against old rivals Chelsea at Old Trafford, which will see two legends of their teams manage the sides. Red Devils manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will hope to start the season off in the form that United showed when he was initially appointed as manager back in December.
United will face off against a Chelsea side that had no transfer activity due to the ban imposed on them for two windows but the Blues will have some pep in their step under new manager Frank Lampard, who could have several Chelsea youngsters in the Blues’ squad.
But, going into the game at Old Trafford, Solskjaer’s men are the favourites to win the match.
Let’s take a look at 3 reasons why Manchester United will beat Chelsea on Sunday.
Inexperienced Chelsea backline
One of the shock moves of this summer transfer window has been David Luiz’s move from Chelsea to Arsenal. It’s surprising that the Blues let go of an experienced defender when they could not buy a replacement, while also not having too many options in central defence. Gary Cahill left on a free transfer at the end of the 2018-19 season, while Antonio Rudiger will miss the start of the season due to injury. This means that Chelsea have just two first-team defenders in Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen, who will most likely start against Manchester United.
Chelsea’s star midfielder N’Golo Kante could also be unavailable for the game against United following an injury in pre-season and he may not be fit enough to play 90 minutes. This means that United’s attack, spearheaded by Marcus Rashford, could have a field day on Sunday at Old Trafford.
Weak Chelsea attack vs strong Manchester United defence
Chelsea lost their talisman and one of their most important players over the last few years, Eden Hazard, who moved to Real Madrid. Hazard contributed goals and assists in bucketloads, which the Blues will miss this season due to the lack of quality replacement as well as a world-class striker to score 20+ goals in the season.
Against United, Tammy Abraham, Pedro, and Christian Pulisic could be the attackers that Lampard chooses and the trio is not expected to give the United backline – which will feature new signings Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire – any nightmares. The two defensive signings for Manchester United have added more strength and stability to the Red Devils’ defence which could be too tough for Chelsea to penetrate.
Strong pre-season
Manchester United seem to be fitter this season than they were last season as manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has made some off the field changes to make his players run longer and faster on the pitch. And it showed in pre-season as the Red Devils won all six of their pre-season games.
Chelsea, on the other hand, had a tougher pre-season, as most predicted due to the arrival of a new coach as well as the quality of players in the squad. The Blues lost just one pre-season game against Kawasaki Frontale but conceded several goals in the other matches – 10 goals in 6 games, including three against Reading and Red Bull Salzburg, and two against Mönchengladbach, which will worry Lampard.
Solskjaer’s side seem better prepared and are working in cohesion, which could work in their favour against Chelsea on Sunday.
Biased appaisal of the situation. Man Utd are in trounble but you cant admit their failings.
Not a bad analysis except :
1) Christensen and Zouma are both EPL winners (with Conte and Mourinho respectively), and it seems to me this fact keeps escaping all pundits!
2) The main advantage Man U has is the home crowd.
3) Chelsea attack features Giroud and Batswayi. Not just Tammy.
4) Pulisic and Pedro are much much faster than Maguire and I can’t wait to see how that will play out!
Your point s lack fact. On what basis do you describe Chelsea defence as in experience. Which among the defence is playing his first season in epl ? What shows that united defence is strong? The fact that you had maguire doesn’t your defence strong let me tell you…… Gets your fact right