Manchester United vs Chelsea
United host Chelsea in a huge Saturday evening cas
Manchester United host Chelsea at Old Trafford this weekend with Ruben Amorim in desperate need of a victory.
After Sunday’s dismal derby defeat to Manchester City, United have taken just four points from their opening four games – their worst start to a Premier League season in 33 years.
Even amid last season’s turmoil, Amorim’s side stepped up and delivered against the sides they would have once considered Premier League title rivals.
With defeats to Arsenal and City already on the board this season, another letdown against Enzo Maresca’s side will be hugely damaging.
United were without Matheus Cunha, Mason Mount and Diogo Dalot for their trip to the Eithad with Amorim providing no clear timeline for their returns.
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United will hope to have them back in training this week with Amorim set to provide a full update when he speaks to the media on Friday.
Even in those absences, there was still no room in the starting XI for Kobbie Mainoo against City with the manager persevering with Bruno Fernandes in central midfield.
Fulham v Manchester United - Premier League
Mainoo still hasn’t started a Premier League game (Picture: Getty)
Calls for Amorim to tweak his 3-4-3 formation have grown even louder this week but the Portuguese coach remains adamant he will not deviate from his vision.
Benjamin Sesko started his first league game for his new club last Sunday and will hope a full debut at home will be the stage for a maiden goal.
Chelsea have a huge midweek trip to Bayern Munich in the Champions League to contend with first. In the Europa Conference League last season, Maresca was able to comfortably rotate almost an entire starting XI but that is unlikely to be the case against elite opposition this season.
Cole Palmer made his return from a groin injury off the bench against Brentford last week, making an immediate impact.
The Blues will be more wary than ever over his fitness and may look to avoid starting him twice in the space of four days against Bayern and United.
Brentford v Chelsea - Premier League
Garnacho made his Blues debut against Brentford Getty Images)
Estevao Willian missed the trip to west London after falling ill while on international duty with Brazil. The youngster has been spotted back in training this week and should be in contention to feature on Saturday.
Alejandro Garnacho meanwhile will be desperate to start back on his old stomping ground having been booted out of the club by Amorim.
While he had no pre-season, the Argentina international looked sharp after coming off the bench against Brentford and a busy week present the chance to force his way into the starting XI.
Chelsea are without Liam Delap and Dario Essugo through respective hamstring and thigh injuries with Levi Colwill likely to miss the rest of the season as a result of an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Romeo Lavia and Benoit Badiashile have returned to training and will be hopeful of being involved sooner rather than later after their layoffs.
Man Utd XI to face Chelsea – Metro prediction
Much will depend on the availability of Cunha and Mount but with the prospect of Amorim changing his formation as remote as it comes, Saturday’s line-up could look very similar to the one that lost at City.
Chelsea XI to face Man Utd – Metro prediction
The urge to throw a hungry and determined Garnacho into the side will be a big one for Maresca and with rotation likely after Wednesday’s trip to Bayern, he could be in luck.
Man Utd vs Chelsea TV channel and kick-off time
Man Utd vs Chelsea takes place on Saturday 20 September with kick-off scheduled for 5:30pm.
You can watch the match live on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event with streaming also available through the Sky Go app and NOW TV for subscribers.
You can also follow all the action with Metro’s LIVE blog.
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