Manchester United vs Chelsea Prediction and Preview – 28/12/15
Premier League preview – Manchester United vs Chelsea prediction
Manchester United full backs Marcos Rojo and Matteo Darmian are losing the race to make a Christmas comeback. Rojo’s shoulder will not be strong enough until the New Year while Darmian’s hamstring is healing slower than hoped and his chances of making an appearance before the end of December are looking slim. There’s no return date set for Jesse Lingard who also has a hamstring problem while Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw remain sidelined with long term injuries.
Caretaker boss Guus Hiddink should have a full squad at his disposal and is hoping Eden Hazard can return to his best form and inspire a late charge from Chelsea. The Belgian wizard has struggled with illness and injury in the first half of the season and will be keeping fingers-crossed there’s no repercussion from the thigh problem that has kept him out of action for the last two weeks. Injury prone Radamel Falcao may not be risked with talk of a move away from the Premier League in January.
Possible Line-ups
Manchester United: 4-2-3-1 formation: De Gea; Varela, Smalling, Blind, Young; Carrick, Fellaini; Mata, Rooney, Depay; Martial
Chelsea: 4-2-3-1 formation: Courtois; Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Azpilicueta; Fabregas, Matic; Willian, Hazard, Pedro; Costa
Statistics
- Manchester United have won 3 drawn 3 and lost 4 of their last 10 matches
- Chelsea have won 5, drawn 2 and lost 3 of their last 10 matches
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Manchester United have scored an average of 1 goal and conceded an average of 1.1 goals per game
- Over the course of their previous 10 matches, Chelsea have scored an average of 1.5 goals and conceded an average of 0.8 goals per game
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 4 of Manchester United’s previous 10 matches
- There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 5 of Chelsea’s previous 10 matches
Prediction
Manchester United’s problems won’t turn on one result and a change of approach may be required to get the best from an expensively assembled squad. The home fans will be still be smarting from the 2-1 defeat against Norwich in the last game at Old Trafford which is not a place to be when the crowd turns against you. United have only won one of the last four home games and you sense the first mis-placed pass or defensive mistake will bring a confidence-sapping gloom over the side.
Chelsea players responded in typical football fashion with the recent change in guard and looked more like their old selves when running out comfortable 3-1 winners against Sunderland. In fairness to the team, while one or two players have been under a cloud, the Blues have created enough chances to be far higher up the table with a better conversion rate and the arrival of the well-respected Hiddink could be just the fillip required to improve that stat. Chelsea have drawn two and lost four of the last six away games in the league but this could improve with a new regime.
Three of the last four meetings between the sides at Old Trafford have ended in a draw and with fear of defeat high in the minds of both sets of players, we could be in for another stalemate.
Tips
Draw at 12/5 with Betfair
Under 2.5 goals at 3/4 Marathonbet
Correct score 1-1 at 6/1 with BetVictor
What are your predictions?
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