Chelsea Welcome Troubled Man Utd to Stamford Bridge

Premier League leaders, Chelsea will be hoping to extend their lead at the top of the table against a troubled Manchester United side at Stamford Bridge on Sunday in a game between two sides with contrasting fortunes in the league

Buoyed by the news of Ralf Rangnick’s imminent appointment, Manchester United travel to Chelsea for Sunday afternoon’s tantalising Premier League encounter.

The Blues remain top of the pile with 29 points from their opening 12 games, whereas Michael Carrick’s side sit seven places and 12 points below the European champions.

Often criticised for a perceived unfairness towards their academy players – with countless names currently out on loan – Chelsea’s youth products stole the show against Juventus as the Champions League holders ran out convincing 4-0 winners at Stamford Bridge.

Trevoh Chalobah, Reece James and Callum Hudson-Odoi all struck for the Blues before Timo Werner came off the bench to round off the scoring on his comeback from injury, which has seen Chelsea confirm their rightful place in the last-16 of the tournament.

Thomas Tuchel’s side’s Premier League fortunes also improved following their 1-1 draw with Burnley before the international break, as the scintillating Blues saw off Leicester City 3-0 at the King Power, with former Foxes lynchpin N’Golo Kante scoring the pick of the bunch.

Victory over Juventus marked Chelsea’s ninth win from 10 in all competitions, and the league leaders remain three points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table having conceded a league-low four goals all season – three of which have come at home, though.

However, Matej Vydra’s equaliser for Burnley is the only goal that Chelsea have conceded over their last 450 minutes of top-flight football, and United’s famed attackers will have their work cut out to impress their soon-to-be interim boss.

Rumours around Mauricio Pochettino continue to swirl, but as United seek an experienced head to guide them through the remainder of the 2021-22 season, the ‘godfather’ of the gegenpress – Ralf Rangnick, appears to be Manchester-bound.

Michael Carrick led the Red Devils to a much-needed 2-0 Champions League win over Villarreal in midweek to book their spot in the knockout rounds, and the Englishman will have the chance to pit his wits against Chelsea this week, with Rangnick not set to be appointed in time for a Tuchel reunion.

Not one United fan needs reminding how Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign came to the most dismal of finishes at Watford last time out in the Premier League, and Carrick’s first top-flight game in charge starts with the Red Devils lying eighth in the table before the weekend’s games kick off.

Five of Solskjaer’s last seven Premier League games in charge of Man United ended in defeat, and the Red Devils have failed to win back-to-back games on the road across all competitions this term – with a 2-1 defeat to Young Boys sandwiched in between top-flight successes at Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United.

History may be on the Red Devils’ side, though, as they are unbeaten in their last seven Premier League meetings with Chelsea – keeping clean sheets in each of their last four, although both highly anticipated games last term ended goalless.

After seeing off Porto with ease in the Champions League, Liverpool return to Anfield for today’s Premier League visit of Southampton.
The Reds’ most recent top-flight game saw them teach Arsenal a footballing lesson in a 4-0 success, while the Saints went down 2-1 to Norwich City.

Liverpool quickly found out how hard it would be to breach an Aaron Ramsdale-inspired Arsenal defence last weekend, but when the floodgates opened following Sadio Mane’s header, Jurgen Klopp’s men showed no mercy.
A second-half flurry of strikes saw Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah and Takumi Minamino strike for a ruthless Liverpool as Mikel Arteta’s young guns were humbled, and the Reds kept the momentum going by not letting their heads drop in the Champions League.

Despite assuring themselves of a first-placed finish before the visit of Porto, Liverpool kept up their remarkable rate of scoring at least twice with a 2-0 win over the Portuguese giants, with Thiago Alcantara scoring a peach of a strike before Salah doubled his side’s tally.

Having recovered from a two-game winless run in the Premier League, Klopp’s side occupy third spot in the table – one point adrift of second-placed Manchester City – but leaders Chelsea are currently out of sight with 12 fixtures played.

Liverpool have now scored at least two goals in each of their last 16 games across all competitions and are yet to suffer defeat domestically or continentally at home this term, so Southampton sure do have their work cut out for them.

Southampton fans could have been forgiven for harbouring hopes of a routine success against a struggling Norwich City side in gameweek 12, with Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side entering the encounter on the back of three wins and a draw in the top flight.

However, the Saints became only Norwich’s second victims of the new season, as Che Adams’s fourth-minute effort was quickly cancelled out by a Teemu Pukki header before Grant Hanley won it for the Canaries in the 79th minute.

Saints goalkeeper Alex McCarthy did not cover himself in glory on the day as Southampton’s four-game unbeaten run came to an abrupt end, with that 2-1 defeat leaving them 13th in the rankings with 14 points to their name – five clear of the drop zone.

Southampton may have taken a point from their clash at the Etihad Stadium with Manchester City this season, but with 13 defeats from 17 away games in the top flight since the turn of the year, the Saints boast the worst Premier League away record in 2021 – hardly a reassuring statistic before a trip to Anfield.
Hasenhuttl let emotion take over when his side overcame Liverpool 1-0 at St Mary’s last term, but Southampton have lost seven of their last eight league battles with the Reds and are without a goal on the Anfield turf since January 2017 in the EFL Cup.