Clicky
Sports, Football

Chelsea, United showdown today


Bangladeshpost
Published : 27 Feb 2021 07:59 PM

Agencies

One of the standout fixtures in the Premier League calendar will take place at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon as Chelsea welcome Manchester United.

Chelsea are currently fifth in the table, two points behind fourth-placed West Ham United on the same number of matches, while Man United are second, 10 points behind the leaders Manchester City.

Chelsea's form under Thomas Tuchel has been excellent, with the Blues winning six and drawing two of their eight matches since the former Paris Saint-Germain manager replaced Frank Lampard at the helm.

A top-four challenge appeared difficult in the latter stages of Lampard's tenure, but the capital outfit have picked up 14 points from the last 18 available to rise into fifth position in the table, just two points behind fourth-placed West Ham and actually only six points off second-placed Man United.

Chelsea will again be without the services of experienced centre-back Thiago Silva for this weekend's contest, with the Brazilian remaining on the sidelines due to a muscular problem.

The Blues are otherwise in excellent shape in terms of injuries, and there are not expected to be too many surprises in the home side's XI on Sunday afternoon.

Olivier Giroud's excellent goal against Atletico should see the France international keep his spot at the tip of the attack with Mount and Werner operating in the two positions just behind.

N'Golo Kante, Reece James and Ben Chilwell could again be on the bench, meanwhile, with Mateo Kovacic, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Marcos Alonso likely to retain their spots.

As for Man United, Phil Jones, Juan Mata and Paul Pogba are all absent, but Solskjaer said on Thursday night that he hoped that Edinson Cavani, Donny van de Beek and Scott McTominay would all be available following recent issues.

There will be changes from the side that started against Real Sociedad, with David de Gea, Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire and Marcus Rashford set to return to the starting XI.

Mason Greenwood could feature on the right as James is a doubt with a muscular problem, while Cavani and McTominay should start if they can prove their fitness ahead of kickoff.

Bruno Fernandes captained Man United on Thursday before being substituted at the interval, and the Portugal international is a certainty to feature in the XI on Sunday.