But that might make a genuinely entertaining game.
Two of the most unpredictable sides meet as under pressure Michael Carrick and Man Utd travel to seriously under pressure Liam Rosenior and Chelsea.
Both teams coming off of defeats and recent poor form and desperate for 3 points.
While United remain in a strong position for Champions League football, it isn't a foregone conclusion that the Red Devils will finish in the top 5 and that the Blues will not.
This is actually a pivotal match in the race for CL football.
Move over Bayern and Real Madrid. We're about to show you what real football is all about.
Predicted Lineup
We already know that we are weakened in defence.
Martinez and Maguire are both suspended due to the incompetence of the PGMOL while De Ligt is still injured.
This means that the only centre-backs we have available is Yoro and Heaven. Two youngsters at the back pose both a risky and exciting prospect.
Some have suggested that perhaps Shaw could shift over to LCB but I doubt that Carrick will do this. He loves Shaw as LB in my opinion.
Dalot to return over Mazraoui who had a pretty poor game against Leeds. Not that Dalot has been any better but I do feel that the Portuguese is the preferance.
Another return will see Mainoo come in for Ugarte, if he is fit - good lord please be fit 🙏. However, reports tells us that the youngster was back in training which is a positive.
A further change up front will see Carrick revert to his false 9. Mbeumo to start up top over Sesko who will have to be content with a place on the bench.
Quite a few changes is what I expect tomorrow.
Approach
It won't be anything revolutionary.
Away from home against a big six team, it will be the pragmatic and boring style of defend and counter.
United have had success with this approach under Carrick and is a style that is more suited to this squad. That is why Mbeumo will start ahead of Sesko.
The Cameroonian is better when playing on the break as we've seen throughout the season. United will soak up the pressure and look to use the pace of Mbeumo and catch Chelsea on the break.
Considering that we will have two young centre-backs, Carrick will want to protect them as much as possible. Yoro and Heaven will start together for the first time which is perhaps a glimpse into the future, but also is a risk given their relative inexperience.
Chelsea are also a side that like to have the ball more than us and as they are at home, the onus will be on them to take the game to United. This again, will allow us to play that pragmatic game and work in our favour.
This will be very much like what we saw in the wins over City and Arsenal. Sit on the edge of our box, let them come to us, and then pick them off in transitions.
I also believe we'll look for moments, individualism and set-pieces to help us get a positive result.
Nothing special is expected from us in this game.
Form
Tbh, both sides are struggling at the moment.
United have just the one victory in their last four along with one draw and two losses, the last of which was in the recent match at home to Leeds.
A quite frankly, horrible performance by United.
However, the positive was that we remained 3rd. We had enough of a gap to Chelsea and Liverpool as even with LFC's win over Fulham, they couldn't leapfrog us. Villa also drew so that stayed behind United as well.
United's away form isn't the best but nor is it the worst. We are 7th in the away table with five wins, four losses and seven draws. It's been those stalemates that have caused us to be in a lower position than we'd like as those seven are the joint-most in the league. The good news is that those four losses are on par with City. Only Arsenal have lost fewer on the road.
The goal difference is 0 as we've scored 26 which is amongst the most but our 26 conceded is again, amongst the most. We give ourselves a chance but also the opposition.
Our last four games away from home have also not been great. Just the one win which came at Everton. Two draws at West Ham and Bournemouth and that defeat to Newcastle are the other three results.
However, the other victory on our travels was at Arsenal. This is one of the reasons why I think we can get a positive result because our form against the big six has been very strong.
We've only lost two (City and Arsenal), drawn onw (Spurs) but won five including a win over Chelsea earlier in the campaign. We are in fact, TOP of the big six table!
As for the recent meetings, there has been a lot of draws. Like, A LOT 😬.
From October 2020 to October 2022, there was a run of five straight draws all with a score line of 0-0 or 1-1.
Pretty fucking boring, if we're being honest.
Since then, things have picked up. United have won three, Chelsea have won two and just the single draw in-between.
One issue for us is that we don't have the best of records at the Bridge. We have just the one win in the last 6 years!
The last two visits were both defeats.
This is probably the best time to change that record.
Chelsea
The Blues have finally managed to find some consistency under Liam Rosenior. He is the first manager in Chelsea history to lose three games on the bounce without scoring in the Premier League.
Respect 👏.
Due to this, Chelsea are still 7 points behind us in 6th place and 4 behind LFC in the fight for Champions League football, which Rosenior still believes is achievable.
When asked whether the players still believe whether they can qualify for the UCL, Rosenior was quite defensive in his response saying that "of course they still believe. Of course we still believe. I don't know why you would ask that question."
Well, a win over United and maybe some other results in their favour would really start to make them believe.
The Blues' record stands at 13 wins, nine draws and 10 losses. They've scored 53 and conceded 41 and have a total of 48 points. Their GD of +12 is the same as United's.
Strangely though, it's been their issues at home that have caused them to really struggle this season. Chelsea are 12th in the home table and have lost five of their 16 games at the Bridge. Only 23 have been scored which is fewer than the likes of Fulham, Brentford and Brighton.
Against the big six, Chelsea have just two wins, two draws and three losses their most recent of which was the 3-0 defeat to City last week.
Liam Rosenior's record as Chelsea boss is also very hit and miss. In his 13 PL matches, he's record reads:
- Six wins
- Two draws
- Five losses
In contrast, Carrick's 11 games read seven wins, two losses and two draws.
A big positive for the Blues is that while United will be missing key players, one of their main ones will return after a bit of a mutiny with the manager: Enzo Fernandez.
He was a big miss in the loss to City and could be the key to getting past United. He along with Moises Caicedo, Cole Palmer, Joao Pedro, Pedro Neto and of course Alejandro Garnacho, are all more than capable of giving Chelsea the win.
Prediction
As I said, this is a hard game to predict. Both sides are struggling, both managers are inexperienced in situations like these at clubs of this size and the importance of this game is huge, especially for Chelsea.
Due to the pressure of needing to get back in the UCL positions, getting back to form, and the home crowd, Chelsea will have to play on the front foot. That will be ideal for us.
And I think this is what will cause us to get the 2-1 win.
Yes, I believe we will get the 3 points or at the very least, won't lost.
I don't think we actually can.
What are your predictions for United's trip to Chelsea?
Enzo Fernandez | Image via Chelsea official X (@ChelseaFC)
Stamford Bridge | Image credit: Getty Images via Goal
Matheus Cunha | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)