Jamie Jackson was at Old Trafford tonight. His verdict is in … and I’m for the off. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!
Standards? What are we talking about? asks Sky … “Training well every day … trying to improve … being a collective unit … there are some variables for the players, everyone talks about a big squad and it’s hard for the coaches this year … I get it, I’ve lived that for eight league games now … sometimes maybe that is a factor and an excuse … but as a player you have to put that to the side and focus on your own game … as I’ve been here I’ve understood quickly that some of the collective standards – and it’s for the individuals amongst that to realise who they are within that, and what they do, this is not a blanket, this is just that we have to find the reasons the club is where it’s at, and there are many … this is not finger-pointing at the players … there is definitely not a lack of effort this evening … but you build up the credit through your training and prep, and you build up your resilience … it’s a bad year for the club … it needs a reboot … the club will move on … generally everything has to be improved … it’s for someone else to take on … it’s probably not the moment now for me to start giving all my opinions on all the details behind because it’s not the time … if you ask me what I’ve learned [since returning to Chelsea] in terms of coaching, not so much, because if you haven’t got that base, of the things I’ve spoken about for most of this interview, then back five, back four, three in midfield two in midfield, those things are not so important … when I talk about training a lot, I’m talking about building up an endurance in many ways and if that’s not there … what are the team fighting for? How can you motivate them and find that extra bit? … we haven’t found that as a collective … I’m certainly not the victim at this moment.”
Frank Lampard speaks to Sky. “We were the better football team in the first half … possession and chances … to be 2-0 down is a sign of where we’re at … in the second half, individual defending moments, gifting opportunities, probably a sign of where we’re at … you go back to the start of the season, our goal count shows that it’s a problem that we don’t score goals enough … I get asked quite a lot when we play a back five: ‘Why are you playing a back five? It’s a bit defensive.’ Some of the defending in the second half shows why we play a back five at times … I’m disappointed with it … you have to be better than that … it’s the end of a long season, I’m not giving the players any excuses … you should play with pride and passion every time you play for this club … there are some technical details inside that, that you have to work daily to improve to do it right, to do all those standards things … everyone says ‘you talk about standards, it’s like a casual statement’ but they are a fact … maybe with the Manchester United team there is some experience at both ends of the pitch … it’s not mentally nice for us to be 2-0 down when you’re possibly the better team, but it’s a reality for the players … any team that wins has standards as a base because without them standards doesn’t matter.”
Erik ten Hag talks to Sky Sports. “It is important … this club belongs in the Champions League … but it’s not easy in the Premier League, it’s a tough competition … seven or eight clubs compete so it’s a massive performance … you can see Chelsea had outstanding players and caused us problems but in counters we were really good … we scored four and we should have scored more, but to be honest they could score too … our organisation was better in the second half … they were open and you have to take advantage, to strike … Sunday is important because we can be third in the league … we keep focused and not get injuries … our team has a good spirit … we are in the right direction … we know we are still not where we want to be … but if you want to be successful you have to be in the Champions League … next week is going to be big and huge and we will do everything in our power … it’s not going to be easy … but we have a great opportunity to get that cup.”
As for the injuries to Antony and Luke Shaw: “Let us wait 24 hours.”
Bruno Fernandes speaks to Sky. “It’s a decent season … it’s not perfect because we want more … but we won a trophy and got the top four … now it’s about finishing the league well, and going to the FA Cup and winning … we have won many games at home … the fans have been creating a great atmosphere for us … we know the fans are happy Liverpool are not there [in the Champions League] but for us it’s not about that, it’s about ourselves … the FA Cup final is about winning the trophy for us … we know if we win it we ruin the option for City of winning the treble, but for us it is about getting another trophy.”
A slightly strange game, in so much as Chelsea, had they shown any sort of competence up front, could easily have been leading at half-time. But United were more clinical. Then in the second half, United took it up a couple of gears, and Chelsea had no answer … although João Felix’s goal was neat enough. Shame Chelsea don’t have an option on him. And so Erik ten Hag has ticked the two boxes asked of him at the start of the season: get back into the Champions League, and win a trophy. As for Chelsea … well, there are more questions than answers. The end-of-season debrief at Stamford Bridge is going to be quite the investigation.
FULL TIME: Manchester United 4-1 Chelsea
Manchester United are back in the Champions League! Chelsea in tatters; Old Trafford en fête.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City | 37 | 62 | 89 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 37 | 40 | 81 |
| 3 | Man Utd | 37 | 14 | 72 |
| 4 | Newcastle | 37 | 35 | 70 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 37 | 28 | 66 |
Updated
90 min +3: Sancho cuts back from the byline on the right. McTominay’s shot hits Kepa in the chest.
90 min +2: Fernandez attempts to release David Fofana down the middle but his pass is blocked. “Being a Chelsea fan is not even [Word redacted by Sweary Ed] now,” writes Carl Whinder. “It’s just bewildering.”
90 min +1: The first of four additional minutes passes quietly. On Sky, Gary Neville names Casemiro as his player of the match.
90 min: Space for the lively Garnacho down the left. He shoots low and hard from a tight angle. The ball pings off Kepa and out for a corner, from which nothing comes.
GOAL! Manchester United 4-1 Chelsea (Felix 89)
Felix picks the ball up in the centre circle and drives down the middle. He’s got team-mates either side of him, but upon reaching the edge of the United D, threads a lovely low shot across De Gea and into the bottom left. “We’ve scored a goal!” trill the Chelsea fans, enjoying themselves in Gallows Humour mode.
Updated
87 min: Loftus-Cheek and David Fofana attempt a one-two down the inside-left channel, but Casemiro isn’t having a bar of it. He stands firm to usher the ball out for a goal kick. “I don’t know how much Man Utd paid for Casemiro but he oozes the class of a player who has seen and done it all for the Galacticos,” writes Colum Fordham. “Goals, assists, the lot. And he’s worth more than all the crazy purchases that Chelsea have made this year put together. He’s (partly) the reason Man U and not my team Liverpool will be playing Champions League football next year.”
85 min: Fernandes is replaced by McTominay. He receives the ovation he deserves for a fine performance.
84 min: Garnacho cuts in from the left and aims towards the top right. His shot pings off the lunging Chalobah’s backside and onto the bar. That would have put the tin lid on this fiasco for Chelsea.
83 min: David Fofana dribbles hard down the left and briefly threatens to fashion an opportunity to shoot. But Lindelof closes him down and shuts the door. Here’s Colm Ó Riain: “Despite so many delicious storylines from this year’s decades-long season vying for our attention, it still amazes me how little attention relatively is being given to the fact that the World Club Champions of February 2022 ‘celebrated’ by spending over $500million .. to finish in the bottom half of their domestic league for the first time since 1996.” Oh there’ll be attention. The close season drags on. Attention’s a-comin’.
82 min: Chelsea make a triple change. Chukwumena, Madueke and Gallagher are replaced by Loftus-Cheek, Ziyech and David Fofana.
80 min: A cross from the Chelsea right. Pulisic goes up for the header. A foul on De Gea, who shoves Pulisic in the back. Pulisic turns with a view to throwing hands. Lindelof gets involved, before everyone calms down a little. Chelsea’s frustrations are obvious.
GOAL! Manchester United 4-0 Chelsea (Rashford 78)
Fofana plays out from the back. Carelessly so, a right-to-left pass across the front of the Chelsea box. Sancho intercepts by the right-hand edge of the D and rolls inside for Rashford, who gets a bit of luck with a deflection off Kepa before pouncing on the loose ball and rolling into the empty net from six yards. Chelsea are in tatters.
Updated
77 min: Fernandes rakes a pass down the inside-left channel and nearly releases Rashford, who is forced to turn tail. But he exchanges passes with Garnacho, then curls powerfully towards the bottom right. Wide. No matter, though, because …
75 min: As Fernandes celebrates, Fernandez and Malacia engage in a shoving match. For a second, it threatens to kick off, but it all calms down soon enough. Malacia and Fernandez are booked.
Updated
GOAL! Manchester United 3-0 Chelsea (Fernandes 73 pen)
Fernandes gives Kepa the eyes. The keeper moves, and Fernandes pings a sidefoot into the bottom right. Clinical!
Penalty for United!
72 min: Fernandes nutmegs Fofana and enters the box down the left. Fofana, frustrated, hangs out a leg and clips his opponent. The referee points to the spot, and this is the first penalty Chelsea have conceded in the Premier League all season.
Updated
71 min: United make a double change, replacing Eriksen and Martial with Garnacho and Fred.
69 min: United fans relax: it ain’t so. VAR checks and, though Casemiro wafts a hand in Gallagher’s face, it looked accidental as the pair tussled, off-balance, for the ball. We play on.
68 min: Gallagher bursts down the inside-left channel and into the United box, where he goes over clutching his face. Casemiro in the immediate environs. United fans will hope it ain’t so.
67 min: … but it leads to nothing.
66 min: Felix is quickly involved, combining with Azpilicueta down the right to win a Chelsea corner …
64 min: A double change for Chelsea: Havertz and Mudryk make way for Felix and Pulisic. Havertz has the audacity to throw a small tantrum as he departs. Given how blunt he and his team-mates have been in front of goal today, and indeed for the entire season, he’d do well to keep his counsel.
63 min: Chukwuemeka has the opportunity of releasing Hall into space down the left, only to overcook the pass. United counter into the space Hall has left behind him, Sancho tearing upfield. Chelsea breathe again as the move breaks down.
61 min: Madueke zips into the United box from the right and stands on Casemiro’s foot. He goes over and claims a penalty. Neither referee nor VAR shows any interest in meeting his demand, quite rightly so.
60 min: Madueke dribbles in from the right only to lose possession. Rashford steams forward on the counter, then sends Fernandes into the box on the left. Fernandes is within his rights to shoot – the angle’s not that tight – but opts to cut back in the hope of returning the ball to the in-rushing Rashford. But the pass takes a nick and flies behind Rashford. His generosity reaps no reward.
59 min: … Hall drives a shot goalwards from a tight angle on the right. De Gea parries the screamer brilliantly. The ball pings back to Mudryk, whose latest scuffed shot is deflected into the grateful keeper’s arms.
Updated
58 min: Madueke drives down the right and draws a free kick from Malacia. Then Azpilicueta is sent into space on the same flank. He wins a corner, from which …
56 min: Mudryk sashays in from the left only to be clattered by Wan-Bissaka. Just a stern word from the referee, who is in end-of-season lenient mode.
54 min: Azpilicueta goes down again and requires some more treatment. He’s going to battle on.
52 min: United want another, though. Malacia crosses low from the left. Eriksen tries to bundle home but Kepa scoops off the line. The ball breaks to Casemiro, who passes a shot wide right. So close to a third.
50 min: … so with perfect comic timing, Mudryk dribbles in from the left and scuffs a shot towards the bottom left. De Gea sees it late and tips around the post for a corner, from which nothing develops. Better from the expensive winger, though the bar’s not been set high.
49 min: Gallagher and Madueke have combined well down the right this evening, and again they threaten to open United up with some crisp passing. Not quite, but if Chelsea are going to get back into this, the right flank might be their best option. “I know, given the way the season’s panned out, this point is rather moot,” begins Russell Yong, “but considering how hard they tried and who they eventually got, Arsenal must be so, so glad they got a PL-ready, up-for-the-fight Trossard and not Mudryk who, granted, did not become crap overnight, but looks far from ready as a Premier League player.”
47 min: United nearly make it three in short order! Lindelof robs Gallagher in midfield and United break forward. Sancho makes good down the inside right and cuts back for Fernandes, who aims for the top-right corner and only just misses, rattling the junction of post and bar instead. Lovely move.
Updated
Manchester United, who are closing in on making it 11 unbeaten against Chelsea, get the ball rolling for the second half. Malacia replaces Shaw, while Richard Hirst (8pm) busies himself by downgrading his pre-match hopes: “Well, I suppose I’ll have to console myself with the possibility of Chelsea falling further down the table: Wolves and West Ham must be licking their lips.”
Manchester United haven’t lost a league game at home after leading at half-time since Ipswich Town turned it around against Ron Atkinson’s side in 1984. Given that astonishing statistic, we can say with some confidence that Erik ten Hag’s men have one foot and four toes in next season’s Champions League. They’re also going to leapfrog Newcastle into third place as things stand.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City | 37 | 62 | 89 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 37 | 40 | 81 |
| 3 | Man Utd | 37 | 13 | 72 |
| 4 | Newcastle | 37 | 35 | 70 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 37 | 28 | 66 |
HALF TIME: Manchester United 2-0 Chelsea
This is Chelsea’s season in microcosm. They’ve enjoyed more possession, and created more chances … and look at the scoreline. Had Chelsea shown even a smidgen of competence in the final third, they’d surely be leading this match. Erik ten Hag isn’t fooled, and storms off down the tunnel with a look on his face that suggests some home truths are a’-coming the way of his defenders.
GOAL! Manchester United 2-0 Chelsea (Martial 45+5)
Fernandes tries to break clear down the right. He’s blocked. The ball breaks to Casemiro, who wedges a pass down the inside-right channel for Sancho. One touch, and the ball’s rolled across the face of goal for Martial, who sidefoots into an empty net. A goal and an assist (sort of) for Casemiro!
Updated
45 min +4: Space for Sancho down the inside-right channel. He’s got options in the middle, but cuts back to nobody in particular, allowing Chukwuemeka to waltz off upfield. Old Trafford groans.
45 min +3: Tough crowd in tonight, by the way. “From a technical standpoint this has been pathetic,” writes John Ryan, while Rotimi Styles adds: “I am beginning to doubt Mudryk’s abilities as a professional footballer.”
45 min +1: The first of six added minutes passes by without incident.
45 min: Fernandez slips a pass down the inside-right channel for Gallagher, who enters the area and scuffs a shot across De Gea and inches wide of the left-hand post. Yet another huge chance spurned! It’s not often I’ll say this, but I’d be interested to know the xG of this first half.
Updated
44 min: Azpilicueta’s cute backheel sends Gallagher into some space down the middle. He opens his body and aims a curler towards the top-right corner of the net. It only finds the top-right corner of the Stretford End. A couple of better-placed team-mates berate him for his inaccuracy, though given what’s happened previously, they’ve got a bloody cheek.
42 min: Madueke drives down the right and cuts back for Gallagher, who can’t get the ball under control, six yards out, for a shot. United half clear but Chelsea come again, and once more it’s Madueke, who reaches the byline on the right before crossing deep towards Hall. The young left-back chests down and shoots, but that’s blocked. Chelsea are well on top right now, and creating chances. No idea how they haven’t scored at least once.
40 min: Fernandez rolls an inviting pass down the inside-left channel for Mudryk. Any player with any sort of confidence would take a touch, enter the area, and shoots. Mudryk has none, though, and with his first touch absolutely blooters the ball down the channel and out for a goal kick.
39 min: Mudryk one-twos with Havertz down the middle and nearly works an opportunity to shoot. But he can’t quite get the ball under control, and United clear.
37 min: A slight lull. Hey, it’s been a long season for everyone.
35 min: Sancho dribbles in from the left. He sits Azpilicueta down, only to then shoot into a thicket of other Chelsea defenders. Blocked. Cleared.
34 min: Fofana lightly clips Fernandes’ heel in the Chelsea box. The referee waves play on. VAR has a check. It’s one of those: not so clear or obvious, and so the on-field decision stands. Had the referee pointed to the spot, that decision would surely have stood as well. Good old VAR, eh? No.
Updated
32 min: Chelsea miss another absolute sitter. Hall makes good down the left and curls a perfect cross onto Havertz’s head, six yards out. Havertz clanks his header miles wide left, when it was easier to score. Chelsea have only scored 36 goals this season, ten fewer than their previous worst Premier League effort, a 46-goal haul in 1996. It’s easy to work out how and why.
31 min: Madueke, Havertz and Chukwuemeka enjoy themselves with some crisp triangulation down the right wing. Again, though, there’s no way through.
29 min: Rashford comes on in Antony’s wake. A huge roar welcomes the home hero back from injury.
28 min: Some good news, perhaps, in that Antony is able to get back to his feet? No, it’s false hope. He can’t put any weight on his ankle, and goes back down covering his eyes in agony. Antony is put onto a stretcher and is carried off to warm applause. That looks far from good with an FA Cup final on the horizon. Godspeed.
26 min: There didn’t seem to be much wrong with Chalobah’s tackle, but he accidentally caught Antony on the ankle, and the United player writhes around in pain quite dramatically. It doesn’t look good and the stretcher comes on.
24 min: Antony tries to trick his way down the inside-right channel, only to be tackled well by Chalobah on the edge of the box. A fine and fair challenge, and play goes on, but Antony stays down. He looks in a lot of pain. United play the ball out so their stricken solider can receive attention.
Updated
22 min: Sky flash up an interesting stat: today’s Chelsea starting XI is their youngest in Premier League history. At an average age of 23 years and 238 days, it knocks the team sent out to face Crystal Palace in November 2019 (24 years and 88 days) into a cocked baby’s bonnet.
20 min: Azpilicueta needs some treatment after stretching to make that important challenge. He’s good to continue for now, though.
19 min: Antony races into space down the right and slips Martial into the Chelsea box with a cute diagonal pass. Martial takes a heavy touch and allows Azpilicueta to poke the ball back to Kepa. The chances keep on coming.
Updated
18 min: Casemiro comes sliding across Chukwuemeka and gets nowhere near the ball. He’s lucky not to go into the book. Should he get himself sent off today, he’d miss the cup final. “Amazingly Casemiro is an anagram of I am score,” writes Malcolm Shuttleworth. “Not very good English but he’s trying!” A damn sight better than my Portuguese.
16 min: Fernandes fizzes in a cross from the right. Martial can’t decide whether to shoot or attempt to play a through ball for Sancho, and the ball squirts through to Kepa. Both teams are so open at the back. Some would say shambolic. Both are looking pretty nifty up front, though. There is absolutely no way the scoring has ended this evening, surely.
14 min: Gallagher has an opportunity to shoot from the right-hand corner of the United box but his slip is straight out of the circus tradition. Then United break quickly, Antony cutting in from the right and curling wide left from distance.
12 min: Gallagher and Chukwuemeka are seeing quite a lot of the ball on the edge of United’s box. No way through at the moment, though.
Updated
10 min: Chelsea are all over the shop at the back … but United don’t exactly look watertight either. Havertz races down the inside-right channel and should find Gallagher, inexplicably free on the penalty spot. But his low cross is too strong and too far ahead of his team-mate. This could quite easily be 2-2 already.
9 min: Sancho drives down the inside-left channel and slips a diagonal pass through what passes for Chelsea’s back line and towards Fernandes, free in the middle on the edge of the box. But Fernandes can’t control and the ball squirts through to Kepa.
8 min: The goal stands! Meanwhile here’s Jeff Sax: “That fantastic Chelsea counter-attack that ended with a spectacular miss, it sums up Todd Boehly.”
7 min: VAR are checking this for offside. To the naked eye, the goal looks fine. But let’s see. We’ve been wrong before.
GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Chelsea (Casemiro 6)
A free kick for United out on the left touchline. Shaw and Eriksen stand over it as their team-mates queue up on the edge of the box. Eriksen curls it in. Casemiro rises highest, six yards out, and plants a header into the top left. Kepa rooted to the spot. Champions League ahoy for United!
Updated
4 min: Chelsea should be leading. Hall is sent scampering into space down the left by Gallagher’s clever ball around the corner. Hall rolls into the centre for Mudryk, who is free, six yards out. Mudryk opens his body and wafts a miserable effort wide right. He had to score. He’s not exactly prolific, to be fair, but even so.
3 min: Madueke makes good down the right and cuts back for Chukwuemeka, who attempts a curler over De Gea and towards the top-left corner. It’s always flying over the bar.
2 min: Within 20 seconds, Chalobah gifts the ball to Antony, who nearly releases Fernandes into the Chelsea box with a pass down the inside-right channel. That’s intercepted, but United come again, Casemiro winning possession and starting a move that sees Fernandes nearly find Sancho free, 12 yards out. Chelsea concede the first corner of the match and deal with it, but this is a strong start by the home side.
Chelsea get the ball rolling. They’ll be kicking towards the Stretford End in this first half.
The teams are out! Manchester United wear their storied red, Chelsea their royal blue. Old Trafford is buzzing ahead of its penultimate game of the season. Joy Division, the Stone Roses, reworkings of John Denver songs, there’s something for everyone. Meanwhile turns out Peter Oh (7.41pm) isn’t the only one wishing United somehow make a monumental balls of their Champions League bid. “The complexity of being a football supporter when the two teams you dislike most are playing each other,” begins Richard Hirst. “As a Fulham supporter do I hope United get a point, so that they field a weakened team against us and we get some revenge, albeit hollow, for the FA Cup defeat? Or given that Chelsea cannot finish above us, do I subordinate my lifelong antipathy towards them and hope they win, so that on Sunday we can get real revenge and kick United out of the Champions League (always assuming Liverpool win)? It has to be the latter, so come on Chelsea (how much I hate saying that!).” We’ll be off in a minute.
A reminder of just how close Manchester United are to securing Champions League football. We’ll assume Chelsea fans won’t want reminding of where their lads are in the table.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City | 37 | 62 | 89 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 37 | 40 | 81 |
| 3 | Newcastle | 37 | 35 | 70 |
| 4 | Man Utd | 36 | 11 | 69 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 37 | 28 | 66 |
Pre-match postbag o’patter. “I find it incredible that Garnacho doesn’t start ahead of Sancho or even Antony” – Paul Howarth
“Should Lampard postpone any further Premier League dreams and follow his golden generation mate Wayne Rooney and search out a MLS manager position and work a bit at his craft before returning down the line?” – Mary Waltz (who already knows the answer)
“I hate what modern football does to me. It’s almost certainly too much to expect Chelsea and Fulham to beat United and keep Liverpool’s top-four hopes alive, but hey, as long as the chance has not been mathematically extinguished: Come on you Boehly-ball Blues!!! Lamps you Legend, Do it for Stevie G!!! Sigh. It sure is hard to maintain one’s dignity in the era of modern football” – Peter Oh
Lampard exits, and Erik ten Hag immediately takes over the mic. “You don’t get a point, you have to deserve a point … but for me that can never be an approach for a game, you have to win a game … we want to play in our style, proactive and dynamic … we are in a really good position but we have to get the job done … we have to focus on this game … we have to show a winning attitude and go for it … Chelsea have high potential, as a group of players they are outstanding … but it’s not about them, it’s about us, and we have to make it our game … it has to be high levels because they have good players … there is a really positive vibe at Carrington … a top culture … we have to set higher standards and get better.”
Frank Lampard talks to Sky. “We’re playing for pride, playing for Chelsea … opportunity for each individual … the season may be over in terms of what we can achieve and what Chelsea are used to achieving, but individually there’s a reason in the dressing room for everyone … there’s a lot of pride at stake … [the large squad size] has been challenging … it’s been a difficult balance this year and I’ve obviously come in at the back end of that … the squad size is something the club will address … there are a lot of standards and basics that have dropped down a level … the basic level before you get to tactics needs to step up again.”
As for the Mason Mount situation? “I don’t know what the solution is going to be … it’s a club and Mason issue … I don’t know where Mason is at personally … I know he’s held in high regard at the club and do what they can to make him stay … I would never talk in the modern day about what a player should do … players move on … it’s a shame we’ve got into this situation where it’s maybe happening.”
Manchester United are on a two-game winning tear-up, so if it ain’t broke, etc., and so forth, and so on. Erik ten Hag names an unchanged starting XI after the 1-0 win at Bournemouth last weekend. Marcus Rashford returns from injury and takes a spot on the bench.
Chelsea make three changes to the side that started the 1-0 defeat at Manchester City on Sunday. Carney Chukwuemeka, Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke replace Thiago Silva and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who drop to the bench, and Raheem Sterling, who misses out altogether.
The teams
Manchester United: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Lindelof, Shaw, Casemiro, Eriksen, Antony, Fernandes, Sancho, Martial.
Subs: Butland, Dalot, Maguire, Malacia, Fred, McTominay, Garnacho, Rashford, Weghorst.
Chelsea: Kepa, W Fofana, Chalobah, Azpilicueta, Fernandez, Chukwuemeka, Madueke, Hall, Gallagher, Havertz, Mudryk.
Subs: Mendy, Silva, Pulisic, Felix, Loftus-Cheek, Ziyech, Koulibaly, D Fofana, Gilchrist.
🚨 TEAM NEWS 🚨
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) May 25, 2023
The Reds name an unchanged XI for #MUNCHE 👊#MUFC || #PL
The Blues. 🔵@ParimatchGlobal | #MunChe pic.twitter.com/VdBnBKyBe3
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) May 25, 2023
Preamble
Manchester United can sense it, smell it, nearly taste and touch it. Yes, the return of Champions League football to Old Trafford, after one long season roaming the barren plains of Europa, is merely a single solitary point away. You’d expect them to get it tonight, not least because the last five meetings between these two giants have ended in a draw. There’s also the small matter of United having not lost a Premier League match at home since the opening day of the season … while Chelsea have lost seven of their last nine matches in all competitions, and Frank Lampard has tasted defeat 18 times in his last 23 managerial outings.
Chelsea have only pride left to play for. They’re already condemned to their first bottom-half finish since 1996; they’re already guaranteed to finish lower than both Brentford and Fulham for the first time in history. So they could do with a boost. Will it spur them on to surprise the upwardly mobile Red Devils? Or will Erik ten Hag’s team secure Champions League football tonight and render the final day visit of Fulham a stress-free experience? Kick off is at 8pm BST. It’s on!
