On Wednesday, from 20:05 pm, two teams in full reconstruction process meet in the finals of the League of England Cup final. Chelsea clash with Manchester United on Stamford Bridge, in a match in which two former footballers of the two clubs will face off as managers: Frank Lampard and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Interestingly, the two teams met in the first leg of the championship, when Manchester United prevailed 4-0 in front of the white-blue team. Chelsea were making their debut in the Premier League under Frank Lampard, and Solskjaer’s students took full advantage and won with enthusiasm and quality. After that match, however, United did not confirm the good game and now has a huge share for a success in traveling with the Londoners.
The hosts approach the game without Christensen, Loftus-Cheek and Barkley, while Kante and Rudiger are uncertain and might miss the defensive gears of their favorites. Manchester United faces the same old batch problems, and Bailly, Dalot, Fosu-Mensah, Pogba and Tuanzebe are injured and absent. Matic and Shaw are uncertain and could play on Wednesday.
Chelsea has recovered after a difficult start to the season and now has a series of 5 consecutive victories in all competitions: 2-1 with Lille and 1-0 with Ajax (in the Champions League), respectively 4-1 with Southampton, 1- 0 with Newcastle and 4-2 with Burnley (in the championship). United achieved a huge success on the field of Norwich City, on the weekend (3-1), at the end of a game in which the “devils” missed two shots from 11 meters! It was the second consecutive victory, after the success with Partizan Belgrade (1-0), of the UEFA Europa League groups, and Solskjaer’s students are morally good.
Manchester Untied is back in shape and will definitely display a well-organized game, with a strong focus on defensive safety on the central axis. None of the teams will take risks until the opening of the score and therefore we expect a game with few goals. Manchester United has lost no more than 4 duels in front of Chelsea, after draws 1-1 and 2-2 and two wins without a goal, with 4-0 and 2-0. We counted on balance and it would not be excluded that this duel should be decided in extensions or in the distance shots. Let us not forget that both have valuable porters!
PROBABLE TEAMS IN CHELSEA – MANCHESTER UNITED
Chelsea: Kepa; James, Tomori, Zouma, Alonso; Kovacic, Jorginho; Hudson-Odoi, Mount, Pulisic; Abraham.
Manchester United: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Red, Young; Fred, McTominay; Rashford, Mata, James; Martial.
PREDICTION: Chelsea to win @ 1,90
