Chelsea travel to Old Trafford tonight to face Ralf Rangnick's Manchester United. Thomas Tuchel's side got a late win against rivals West Ham with Christian Pulisic making an impact off the bench.
The Blues go into the 57th competitive match of the season with a five-point gap between themselves and London rivals Arsenal, and they're seven ahead of Tottenham.
A win would make it eight and 10 points ahead respectively with six remaining games of the season. It would all but secure a place in the Champions League next season if they are to pick up all three points tonight.
The reverse fixture in the season was back in November when Manchester United caretaker manager Michael Carrick got a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, a week after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was shown the exit door.
READ MORE: No Jadon Sancho or Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford decision - Possible Man United XI vs Chelsea
Thomas Tuchel confirmed Mateo Kovacic will join Ben Chilwell and Callum Hudson-Odoi on the injury list for this game. Antonio Rudiger and Reece James both trained yesterday and hopefully will be available for the clash.
Andreas Christensen was said to need another examination before assessing whether he would be ready. Meanwhile, Ross Barkley is sick and will not be part of the squad.
football.london's Chelsea reporters take a look at the side they would name to get three points at Old Trafford for the first time since 2013...
Scott Trotter
Injuries may dictate some of Thomas Tuchel's starting XI but the impact of Reece James and Antonio Rudiger returning to training could lift the side. The latter, if fully fit, should return straight into the starting XI. As Tuchel highlighted on Thursday, the German international helps set the standard in Chelsea's side and needs to do so until he officially departs.
The return of James brings perhaps Tuchel's most difficult decision for the clash against Manchester United with a number of contenders for the right side of the back three. Trevoh Chalobah put in a decent outing against West Ham and Cesar Azpilicueta is always hard to drop. It would be preferable to see James at wing-back but managing the 22-year-old's fitness could see him off the flank.
Christian Pulisic's winning goal on Sunday, may see him get a start over Timo Werner, though the German's form has been good in recent weeks. It would be good to see the American start close to Kai Havertz if he does play however, so Mason Mount can continue to thrive in that more free, No.10 role.
Scott's XI: (3-4-1-2) Mendy; Chalobah, Silva, Rudiger; James, Kante, Loftus-Cheek, Alonso; Mount, Havertz, Pulisic.
Daniel Childs
Given injury issues and the size of this game, I hope we don't see the sort of rotation we did against Arsenal, which irritated supporters. Tuchel and the players should be treating this game very seriously and increasing the intensity and focus that has been lacking in the past two games.
Tuchel does have a £190million dilemma in the sense that all three of his substitutions on Sunday looked bright, with two having a big influence on the final score. Christian Pulisic should be confident after his dramatic winner, whilst Romelu Lukaku's persistence won the Blues a penalty and got Craig Dawson sent off.
Hakim Ziyech was definitely third in that trio, but he can maybe feel frustrated he hasn't got more minutes in recent weeks. I would hang my hat on Pulisic, being the one most likely to start from the left. The narrative over Lukaku returning to Old Trafford feels hard to resist, though I'd still stick with Kai Havertz from the off. Check out my preview of the match here.
Daniel's XI: (3-4-2-1) Mendy; Chalobah, Silva, Azpilicueta; James, Kante, Jorginho, Alonso; Mount, Havertz, Pulisic.
Scott Clayton
If Rudiger is fit, he starts. Although I do like seeing players here for the longer term getting picked, I have to accept Rudiger is a key cog to our defence till the season is over. Unless we get the top four then it could be a chance to give other players the chance to play the role.
I want to see Reece James back at right wing-back, creating problems. My only other really controversial pick is Lukaku over Werner or Pulisic. I won't lie; I probably think both should be picked ahead of Lukaku, but I saw promise in that cameo vs West Ham.
Also, one of the things that's majorly swayed it for me is it always seems to be a former player that scores a goal, and I'd love for him to go back to Old Trafford and score the winner and bully the Man United defence.
Scott's XI: (3-4-1-2) Mendy; Chalobah, Silva, Rudiger; James, Kante, Jorginho, Alonso; Mount, Havertz, Lukaku.
