Chelsea face Manchester United this week and following their rather questionable performances, I can only wonder if the Blues are up for a record-breaking task.
The last time Chelsea won at Old Trafford in the Premier League, they were under the management of Rafa Benitez. Since then, results have been fairly poor. Their last three meets have ended in a draw and in addition to Chelsea's misery, they have not been able to beat Manchester United in the league since 2017.
Thomas Tuchel will need to pull something remarkable out of his hat of tricks if he is to do what the last four managers failed to do. The lack of success that Chelsea has had against Man United is quite a concern. Along with Arsenal, they have turned into our bogey team and I just can't seem to figure out why.
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Chelsea narrowly took the victory against West Ham last weekend. It was a tough battle for the Blues but Christian Pulisic was able to take it over the line. It should be noted that the Hammers fielded a relatively weaker side to accommodate for their Europa League semi-final, which also takes place on Thursday. I can only imagine what the result could have been if David Moyes decided to go full throttle.
Ralf Rangnick has struggled since taking over in Manchester. Despite having a team filled with 'world class' players, he hasn't quite found the key to making things tick. There's only so much that he can do to rectify the questionable performances that have been displayed this season. Cristiano Ronaldo will most likely be the best choice to go with up against Chelsea's Thiago Silva in defence. The two 37-year-olds will go head to head and Silva will be expected to come out on top given this season's performances.
Let's face it, we can say what we want about Cristiano Ronaldo having a poor season, but he is still Manchester United's top goal scorer. He is also still one of the greatest footballers that I have ever witnessed in my lifetime. United are lucky to have a player like him who can pull out a performance when it's least expected - with hat-tricks against Norwich and Tottenham showing just how dangerous he can be.
I look at Chelsea's team and wonder, who could be our equivalent to Ronaldo? I'm not talking about a match in attributes and skillset. I'm referring to a match in impact. The answer to this question seems to change on a weekly basis. One week I'd say Kai Havertz, another it would be Pulisic. Whereas on days like that against Arsenal, it's an unanswerable question.
Tuchel should be looking to field a strong starting XI to break the nine-year drought at Old Trafford. He will be facing a familiar face. Maybe that could give Chelsea the edge over Tuchel's footballing teacher.
