The Premier League is back and what a match we have to start off the weekend! It’s Chelsea hosting Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea led by Hazard had made a fantastic start to the season and will hope to continue that after the break while Man Utd have struggled despite their recent comeback against Newcastle and with Mourinho on the hot seat, you have to say that they must get something out of it.
Key Facts
Chelsea are the 3rd highest scoring team in the league with 18 in 8 games. Just over 2 per game.
Eden Hazard is currently the Premier League top scorer with 7 goals. He’s got on the scoresheet in 5 of his 8 games. He also has 3 assists
Chelsea have been relatively good against big 6 opponents this season having beaten Arsenal, drawn Liverpool and also beaten Liverpool in the cup.
Chelsea have the 3rd best defensive record in the league having just conceded 5 in 8. They’ve kept 4 clean sheets already.
Chelsea have only lost 1 league home match against Man Utd in previous 16 meetings at the Bridge. 10W 5D 1L
Man Utd have conceded 14 league goals in 8 games and have only kept 1 league clean sheet.
On average there are 3.4 goals scored in Man Utd games this season in the league.
Clubs top scorer Romelu Lukaku is currently on a 6 goal drought for Man Utd in all competition
Man Utd have conceded 3+ goals in 3 games already this season.
The games Referee Mike Dean has awarded more cards to Chelsea both yellow and red more than any other club. He also awarded more penalties to Man Utd more than any other club.
Team News
Chelsea: Chelsea have one serious injury as their top centre back Antonio Rudiger is questionable to feature after withdrawing from the German squad during the international break therefore we may see Cahill or Christensen fill in for him. Furthermore youngster Ethan Ampadu has suffered an injury but he wasn’t going to be in Sarri’s plans regardless. Otherwise, Chelsea have all of their top guns healthy and ready to play. We can expect a similar side as against Southampton bar potentially Rudiger of course. Sarri will have a dilemma whether he wants to play Ross Barkley or Matteo Kovacic in midfield as both have been showing great form this season. Expect Giroud and Willian both to keep their starting jobs despite Morata getting on the scoresheet recently and Pedro returning from injury.
Manchester United: Man Utd have some injury news of their own. All of Shaw, Lingard, Matic and Herrera will face late fitness tests to determine whether they can feature in the match this weekend. Jose will have a dilemma up front between Alexis, Rashford and Martial from which he’ll have to pick 2 to start on the wings. Alexis scored the winner against Newcastle, Martial scored too while Rashford is coming off a very good international break. We also need to put into consideration that United have a UCL match against Juventus midweek so maybe Jose will take this game less seriously, despite that we can still expect all the top stars to play including Pogba and Lukaku. If Matic can’t play expect Fellaini to fill in for him.
Betting Tips and Predictions
We have to go with Chelsea here given the current state of both teams. Chelsea are rolling while United are down in confidence and despite beating Newcastle, you can’t sit there and say that has fixed all of their problems. In this game we’re going to back a Chelsea win and even a -1 AH as it has good odds. Furthermore we can expect an over 2.5 goals here. United are awful defensively and Chelsea led by Hazard will for sure exploit that meanwhile United should score at least once themselves, especially if Rudiger can’t play for Chelsea. BTTS – Yes should come through too and Hazard to score anytime has good value odds. These are our picks for this game. Chelsea to win 3-1 is the prediction here.
Match Odds (TonyBet)
Chelsea Win – 1.75
Draw – 3.75
Manchester United Win – 5.15
KICK OFF – 20th October 2018 – 12:30pm UK Time
