Jose Mourinho will make his highly-anticipated return to Stamford Bridge for the first time since he was sacked as Chelsea’s boss in December.
Antonio Conte has done a good job in stabilising the team, thus this crunch tie between Chelsea and Manchester United will certainly be an exciting encounter.
Victor Moses will definitely be relishing this encounter as he recently said he felt he was not given a chance to impress under Jose Mourinho before he was sent on loan.
Chelsea could still be without the services of Willian who was granted compassionate leave following the death of his mother and Oscar was granted leave following the death of his grandfather which means Pedro and Victor Moses are likely to keep their places in the starting lineup.
Manchester United might also be without the services of Chris Smalling who picked up a minor muscular injury during the Fenerbache game.
Manchester United are set to play their third game in less than a week following a goalless draw against Liverpool on Monday before they thrashed Fernabache 4-1 in the Europa League on Thursday.
Chelsea will be hoping to make it three victories in a row after a comfortable 3-0 victory over champions Leicester last Saturday, they will also want to continue their undefeated record against Manchester United in their last seven league games (W3 D4).
Diego Costa has been is sublime form this season as he currently tops the scoring chart with 7 goals in 8 matches and he will be looking to pile more misery on Jose Mourinho side on Sunday .
Zlatan Ibrahimovic form his hit a low turn after his excellent start to life in the premier league as he is still stuck on 4 goals, however the United team has shown that they have players such as Rashford, Martial and Mata who can score goals and win matches for the team.
Prediction
This promises to be a tense encounter, while Chelsea will be hyped up for a victory following their mini-resurgence, their defence still seems suspect as their 3-0 defeat against Arsenal showed. Manchester United have lost some of the aura they had in the Ferguson era as Mourinho seems to play this sort of match with a conservative approach which might hurt United as Chelsea has players such as Diego Costa and Eden Hazard who will punish United and take their chances if United are sloppy in defence.
Manchester United will fancy their chances following their 4-1 victory over Fenerbache and Juan Mata should definitely return to the starting lineup to give the United team some creativity and attacking ambition, if Mourinho plays his team selection right and Ibrahimovic gets his scoring mojo back a United victory could definitely be in the cards.
Verdict: Manchester United defeats Chelsea
