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Manchester United face Chelsea after both sides completing their UEFA Champions League matches as the two faced European finalists from two countries; PSG and Sevilla and now look to the EPL fixture on Saturday.
AllNews understands that judging by both teams UEFA Champions League performance, Manchester United is favourite to win the tie but football cannot be judged by last game performance.
READ ALSO: UCL: Rashford Late Strike Seals United Win Over PSG In Paris
At the moment, Chelsea sits at 8th with 8 points on the table with 2 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss, while United is at 15th with 6 points 2 wins, and 2 losses (with a game at hand)
United won 2-1 against PSG in France while Chelsea could not break the deadlock against Europa league winner, Sevilla despite huge spending summer.
Chelsea's performance was good especially saves from Edouard Mendy but the huge summer spending continues to water down their performance as much is expected from such high valued team.
Both teams played on Tuesday and that affords them an equal amount of time to rest before the Saturday rivalry match but United Chelsea will be more rested given that they played at home and United will have to fly back to England from France.
Ole Gunner Solskjaer dropped Harry Maguire and Edinson Cavani against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League without injury which could be a tactical move to keep them fresh against Chelsea.
Captain Bruno Fernandes was also instrumental to the match after scoring very early in the match for United from a spot-kick, United played fantastically to defeat last season finalist at home with a wonderful late strike from Marcus Rashford sealing off the fixture.
Rashford also was handed the captain armband after Bruno Fernandes was subbed off joining the list of young players who have captained Manchester United.
According to Ole Gunner, the spirit is high in the Old Trafford camp especially after the two consecutive wins following the International break - 4-1 at Newcastle and 2-1 in Paris.
Back-to-back away wins ✅
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 21, 2020
Let's keep up the momentum, Reds ?#MUFC pic.twitter.com/B3n8aeN6FX
David De Gea again proved to be a World-Class keeper in the fixture against PSG containing chances from the Neymar-Mbappe duo, barring the own goal from Martial, PSG would not have scored at all.
Who fancies winning a @D_DeGea hero shirt? ?
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 21, 2020
Our latest giveaway is now open ?#MUFC #UCL
The stadiums remained closed in England especially after another wildfire of the COVID-19 in England, United has not been much sensational at Old Trafford this season losing twice already to Crystal and Tottenham. Little could be said about home advantage.
United surpassed Chelsea head to head last season winning 3 out of 5 meetings (1 draw, 1 loss) - 2 of those wins came away from home and 1 at Old Trafford so psychologically going forward they are better.
Red Devils also have some injuries and doubt for the game; Eric Bailly is out, Maguire, Greenwood, Jones, Lingard are all doubts. Martial is suspended for the match picking up a straight red in the match against Tottenham.
The boss has given a further update on @EricBailly24's fitness... ?
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 21, 2020
Come back stronger, Eric! ?#MUFC
Cavani or Odion Ighalo may be used in his place probably why Ole dropped him (Cavani) for the PSG game.
Rashford statement after the PSG match was praise from Manager and teammates after a brilliant goal; "same weather, same foot, same corner".
Same end. Same foot. Same player.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 20, 2020
A #UCL win in Paris wouldn't be the same without a word from @MarcusRashford ?#MUFC pic.twitter.com/LQKd6fbrVU
Ole Gunner praised Axel Tuanzebe after training for just a few weeks, and absolutely spot on!
? "It was an unbelievable performance from Axel, absolutely spot on."
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 21, 2020
You'll love the boss's praise for Axel Tuanzebe! #MUFC #UCL pic.twitter.com/ERLiwZ65eH
Old Trafford awaits... ? pic.twitter.com/IA8jbGMQqT
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 22, 2020
With Chelsea reacting to the three goals shipped in the Premier League draw against Southampton at the weekend with Tuesday scoreless Champions League opener with Sevilla, attention was naturally on the changes to the defence made for the game.
The 0-0 draw was the first such scoreline in Frank Lampard’s time in charge, in what was his 63rd game at the helm, and the club’s first since playing Leicester away in Maurizio Sarri’s final league game in May 2019.
In terms of Lampard's personnel choice against Sevilla, Thiago Silva and Reece James came into the backline and Edouard Mendy returned in goal and all three backed up their selections with statistics.
James was the top tackler among the players from either side with six made. Add to that three clearances and one shot blocked, with no fouls committed, and it was a solid contribution. He managed to make it forward for five of his crosses too.
Thiago Silva’s performance was praised by Lampard after the game and his standout influence was on the ball. He played the most passes in the game by a Chelsea player with 60, with a game-best accuracy of 90 percent among the Blues who were on the pitch for more than a few minutes of the contest.
This shows how defensive they might be against Manchester United who likes to break defense in a counter-attacking pattern.
The Thiago Silva - Kai Havertz connection was strong with the German collecting four of those passes played through, with Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner, and Mason Mount all receiving balls from the Brazilian at the back.
Playing like that helps keep defenders behind, attackers forward, and Midfielders can join in launching the attack, putting more pressure on the defense and less on the midfielders.
Lampard noted his side making the decision at times to play passes longer rather than retain possession at the back against a side he likened to an English team in their style of play. Sixty-three of Chelsea's 519 balls attempted were long ones, compared with Sevilla’s 88 from 623.
In the attacking side of the game, Werner was the most prominent across both sides in attempts to score – with three shots of which two were on target. Next up was a less likely source, Kurt Zouma with two, from which one, his header from a corner, needed saving.
Edouard Mendy also came to the fur, helping Chelsea survive 17 crosses from the Spaniards without conceding, and to achieve the clean sheet, Mendy made two saves.
Ben Chilwell and Sevilla’s Ivan Rakitic were the most creative on the pitch with two key passes apiece. Pulisic continues to return following his injury with a game-high three dribbles, compared with two in the previous game.
Frank Lampard pot match conference against Sevilla and what he had to say about his team.
'We wanted to score but I'm happy with the clean sheet.' pic.twitter.com/PrWHmQoObN
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 21, 2020
Saturday, October 24th, 2020, at 5:30 PM
Nigerian audiences can watch on Silverbird TV.
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