Man Utd v Chelsea: Pre-match preview
Our reporter Michael Plants shares his thoughts ahead of Manchester United's Premier League encounter against Chelsea.
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00:00 Manchester United host Chelsea on Wednesday night in a rare round of
00:03 midweek Premier League fixtures and for the Red Devils it's an opportunity to
00:07 bounce back from a really disappointing performance at the weekend when they
00:10 lost 1-0 to Newcastle. It's a game that the scoreline really doesn't tell the
00:14 whole story and United were fortunate to come away from the North East with just
00:17 a one goal defeat. Some really poor performances in that game particularly
00:21 Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial being singled out for a lot of criticism.
00:25 They were taken off in the second half of that game and you have to say there
00:29 are questions about the desire and application of a number of players but
00:32 particularly those two attackers and I wouldn't be surprised to see the two of
00:36 them come out of the team for the game against Chelsea but all around it was a
00:39 really abject performance and a game that I simply think United players
00:43 didn't put enough into. They're hoping to put that right against Chelsea and it's
00:47 an opportunity for them to end their pretty woeful record against sides in
00:51 the top half of the division. That Newcastle game was the fifth time this
00:54 season they faced a side in the top half of the Premier League table and they've
00:58 lost all five so far so they'll be hoping that they can break that record
01:02 against the sixth time that they play a team in the top
01:07 half this season but so disappointing from Manchester United who of course come
01:11 up against Maurizio Pochettino a manager who has an interesting relationship with
01:15 Manchester United and has been linked with the manager's job on numerous
01:19 occasions. Of course was linked with it when Nodigan Ossoljou was there, was
01:22 linked when Eric Ten Hag also got the job as well but ultimately it was Ten Hag
01:26 who got the role in. He's of course under huge pressure at the moment to turn
01:30 around United's results and to improve their performances. I think one
01:34 interested person from the United camp certainly this week will be Mason Mount
01:39 as well. Of course came through the youth system at Chelsea and went on to play
01:44 such a pivotal role in their team, helped them to win a Champions League a couple
01:48 of years ago and he joined United of course in the summer leaving Chelsea and
01:53 it's been such a difficult start for him really since he has made that move. He
01:57 struggled with injuries, he struggled with form, he struggled to just even get
02:01 in the United team. It's been really difficult for him so far but who better
02:05 to turn things round against I suppose than his former side. That is of course
02:09 if Mount is fit because he's been struggling with an injury, missed the last
02:12 two as a result of a calf injury but he's back in training on Friday. I
02:16 wouldn't be surprised if he plays some role in the squad on Wednesday night. I
02:21 think from a Chelsea perspective the other interesting players are well
02:24 Rhys James is going to come back. He was suspended for the
02:28 weekend win over Brighton so he can be back involved for Chelsea but
02:33 Conor Gallagher was sent off in that game and he's certainly not going to be
02:36 involved for Chelsea. A side who have been really inconsistent of late, very up and
02:40 down, played brilliantly a couple of weeks ago against Manchester City, managed
02:43 to get a very famous 4-4 draw. Then were really easily beaten by Newcastle,
02:48 losing 4-1 and then of course beat Brighton last week. So real highs and lows
02:52 at the moment when it comes to Chelsea.
02:57 They will, I suppose from their perspective, be hoping to
03:01 get put together a run of performances and a run of results as well. Something
03:05 they haven't managed under Mauricio Pochettino who of course has put together
03:08 a really young side at Chelsea. But for United it's just an opportunity. They
03:12 have got to start putting some good performances together, start playing well
03:15 because otherwise the pressure is really going to mount on our ten hag.