Manchester United take on Chelsea in Saturday’s Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.
The Red Devils have had a dismal run of results. They went winless for the eighth straight game following a 3-0 league defeat to Bournemouth at Old Trafford last weekend.
It was expected that manager Michael Carrick would be dismissed after the humiliating result, but the club’s hierarchy have made the decision to back the 45-year-old.
Carrick will be determined to repay the club’s faith on Saturday, and we anticipate the English tactician will make at least three big changes for the trip to Stamford Bridge.
The first change looks quite obvious at left centre-back. Ayden Heaven had an error-prone outing against the Cherries. His attempted two-footed challenge paved the way for a free-kick from which Bournemouth opened the scoring.
At the start of the second half, Heaven twice gifted cheap possession to the South Coast outfit and was fortunate not to concede. He was eventually replaced by Lisandro Martinez, who had his own problems with Rayan as well.
Still, Martinez’s experience alongside Maguire could be key against a Chelsea outfit, who will also be determined to return to winning ways after a surprise 2-0 league defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
Matthijs de Ligt is another solution for the manager, but the Dutchman could feature off the bench at best, given he looked well short of match sharpness during the 4-1 Champions League rout at Como.
Meanwhile, right-back Leny Yoro and goalkeeper Senne Lammens also had forgettable moments against the Cherries. The former’s slip contributed to the second goal, while the latter’s attempted recovery allowed Evanilson to score into an empty net. Despite this, we expect the pair to continue.
The other two changes could come in the final third. Youri Tielemans has been ever-present for United in the XI since his summer move, but it could be time to drop him to the bench, given his limited mobility.
He had a good outing at Leeds with a terrific cross for Bryan Mbeumo’s goal, but has since been underwhelming. The £35 million signing has struggled against the high press in particular.
Tielemans won just three out of 12 duels contested last weekend. We feel captain Bruno Fernandes should be reinstated in the number 10 position against the Blues after being unused on Sunday.
Carrick sent a clear message to Fernandes after he questioned his tactics against Como, but the Portuguese is United’s best creator and should return in his playmaker role versus Chelsea.
Fernandes has four goal contributions in his last five appearances against the Blues.
Similarly, it appears a no-brainer decision to replace Mason Mount with Matheus Cunha on the left wing. Mount struggled to make any kind of impact from a wide attacking position last weekend.
Cunha fared decently coming off the bench for Tielemans against Bournemouth. He has five goals in his last five meetings against Chelsea, and should get the nod on the left side of United’s attack.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com