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Chelsea welcome Manchester United to Stamford Bridge to kick off a crucial month of April football in the Premier League and FA Cup.
The Red Devils’ Champions League hopes seemed in tatters after a devastating last minute goal was conceded at Brentford to surrender a lead. However, with Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa both dropping points during the week, perhaps the door to qualification has been left a little ajar for United.
Tonight’s game will be the 195th meeting between the two with the Old Trafford side winning 83 to Chelsea’s 56.
Erik ten Hag’s men enter the matchup in sixth place looking to close the gap to the probable lucrative top five for Champions League football while the west Londoners sit in 12th place, looking to earn the three points that would return them to the top half of the table.
Here are three storylines that the travelling support will be excitedly discussing in anticipation of tonight’s match.
1. Can Mason Mount build on his last minute goal at the weekend?
It is fair to say the Chelsea academy product has had a season to forget so far in his debut campaign at Old Trafford.
Signed for a potential £60m in the summer, injury has wrecked his intention of starting off strongly for his new side. In fact, he has only been able to participate in 14 matches all season as we begin April. This has prompted some fans to joke that they have “forgotten” that he even plays for the club.
However, if one club know Mount’s potential it is Chelsea. He provided the assist in Chelsea’s Champions League winning goal against Manchester City in 2021 and he won his former side’s player of the year award in 2021 and 2022.
He will be desperate to show off his talents, however in his pre-match press conference, the manager stated that the club must be careful to ease Mount back into regular minutes, so it seems he may have to make do with another place on the bench.
2. United aim to complete only their second double over Chelsea in Premier League era
If one team has consistently been a problem for United over the entire Premier League era, it has been Chelsea.
Even before the riches of Roman Abramovich arrived to West London, the blues have been a thorn in the side of the Red Devils.
This doesn’t seem so true at the moment as they are currently on their worst streak against United in the Premier League era without a win in 12 league matches against United. However, according to the BBC, Man United have only done the double over Chelsea once in the Premier League era and that was under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2019-2020.
The Mancunian side have already completed one half of the task this year with a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford in December, courtesy of two goals by Scott McTominay.
Nonetheless, winning at Stamford Bridge will be a more sizeable task as, despite the Londoners wretched league position, they have only been beaten once in their last 15 home games in all competitions.
3. The match will likely be a goal fest
One aspect that has characterized the last two meetings between the two sides has been the absolutely chaotic football on display.
Last May when United secured Champions League football in a 4-1 win over tonight’s opponents, both teams shared 32 shots. In December’s win, both sides combined for 41 attempts.
March saw United’s defence at its most exposed. It has already been relayed by The Peoples Person that Andre Onana has faced the third most shots this season in the division and scarily in 2024, no team has given up more chances.
Last month in only four matches, United allowed Manchester City, Everton, Liverpool and Brentford to have a combined 106 shots on their goal. However, for their part, Chelsea are also incredibly switched off at the back and United’s transition style seems to actually work well against them.
They have already conceded 47 league goals, which is the same amount that they let in during the entirety of last season and they still have ten matches left to play. Basically, both teams could write a textbook on how not to defend at the current moment in time – an appetising prospect for the neutral, but not necessarily the Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge faithful.
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