BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
- Venue: Stamford Bridge Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal is without the injured quartet of Michael Carrick, Daley Blind, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo.
- Chelsea are unbeaten in their last four league matches against Manchester United, conceding just two goals.
- The Blues are the only team to have beaten United more often in the Premier League (15) than they have lost (13), with 17 matches drawn.
- Manchester United have won only six of their last 23 league games against Chelsea.
- The Red Devils have won just five times at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League, including once since 2002 (3-2 in October 2012).
- Five players have been sent off in the last five league meetings: three for Chelsea (Branislav Ivanovic twice and Fernando Torres) and two for United (Nemanja Vidic and Rafael).
- Chelsea's last home defeat in the Premier League came almost exactly a year ago, against Sunderland on 19 April.
- Cesc Fabregas' winning goal against QPR last weekend was Chelsea's only shot on target in the match. It was only the 14th time since 2003 that they have recorded no more than one shot on target in a Premier League game.
- That goal was Chelsea's 100th of the season in 47 matches across all competitions.
- They have only failed to score in one league match all season - away at Sunderland in November.
- Manchester United have 65 points so far this season, one more than they collected in the whole of 2013-14.
- Only Arsenal have won more league points in 2015 than the 29 by Louis van Gaal's side.
- United have only conceded more than one goal in a league match on five occasions this season, and just once have they let in more than two goals - the 5-3 defeat at Leicester.
- Only Barcelona (52), Real Madrid (49) and Bayern Munich (43) have scored more home league goals than Manchester United (40) this season in Europe's top five leagues, but the Red Devils have managed just 19 goals in 15 away games.
- Chris Smalling has scored four league goals this season (as many as Danny Welbeck), having scored just twice in 88 Premier League matches before this campaign.
MATCH PREVIEW
Even before a ball is kicked, the title seems to have moved closer to being clinched by Chelsea.
Manchester United's derby win last weekend has come at a cost, with Phil Jones, Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo and Michael Carrick all ruled out of the action at Stamford Bridge.
Of that quartet, the loss of Carrick may be the most keenly felt, with United having won 12 and lost only one of the 16 Premier League games he's started this season. There's also the possible knock-on effect of having to move Wayne Rooney back from his striking position to cover.
Lawro's prediction |
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"It has all come together for United recently, although some of it was by accident - the injury to Robin van Persie, for example, meant Van Gaal had to push Wayne Rooney back up front."
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None of that is to say that bang in-form United CAN'T win of course, but it surely seems less likely, with Chelsea having not lost a home league game for one year.
Only Bradford have beaten the Blues at the Bridge this season , with Jose Mourinho's side boasting the only undefeated home record in the top eight tiers of English football - encompassing 16 leagues!
Their football hasn't been scintillating of late - all of their last six league wins have been by a single goal - but it's often said that the mark of a good side is one that wins when not playing well, and Chelsea are winning.
It's now almost undoubtedly a question of when they win the league, not if, and on collecting his third Premier League title (in three games time if they win them all) Mourinho might raise a glass to the man who'll be in the other technical area for this one.
In the late 1990s, whilst others doubted his worth to the Barcelona backroom team, Louis van Gaal not only kept the Portuguese on but promoted him to first-team coaching duties.
The rest, as they say, is history.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
Chelsea
Manchester United
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