The games don’t get any easier for Manchester United with Chelsea set to visit Old Trafford on Thursday evening
Manchester United host Chelsea on Thursday hoping to keep their faint hopes of Champions League qualification alive. The Red Devils have won just one of their last five league games to fall six points behind Arsenal in fourth. The games don’t get any easier for Manchester United with Chelsea set to visit Old Trafford on Thursday evening. Here at freebet.com we’ll preview this huge fixture, bring team news, betting tips and match odds from our betting partners at William Hill.
Team news
Manchester United have been rocked by a series of injuries ahead of their match against Chelsea. Captain, Harry Maguire is the latest player to be ruled out of Thursday’s match. Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka are also missing from the United defence whilst midfielders Fred and Paul Pogba are also absent. Edinson Cavani is not yet fit whilst Jadon Sancho has tonsillitis.
Chelsea will be without Ross Barkley and Mateo Kovacic but should be boosted by the return of Antonio Rudiger and Reece James.
Manchester United v Chelsea: Head-to-head
Chelsea’s recent record against Manchester United is far from impressive. Despite claiming two FA Cup wins in four seasons against the Red Devils, Chelsea have not beaten Manchester United in the league since November 2017. Blues’ winless run at Old Trafford in the Premier League stretches all the way back to May 2013.
The last three meetings between Manchester United and Chelsea in the Premier League of ended all square. The clubs played out a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge earlier this season whilst last season’s Old Trafford fixture ended goalless.
Betting tips
With three consecutive draws in games between Manchester United and Chelsea, a share of the spoils should be considered at 12/5.
Only Liverpool have scored more goals away from home than Chelsea in the league this season whilst Manchester United have shipped over 50 league goals in a single Premier League season for just the second time. Despite a sequence of low-scoring matches between the sides, we’re tipping Manchester United versus Chelsea to produce over 2.5 match goals on Thursday. At 4/5, this is our bet of the day.
Seven of Manchester United’s last eight Premier League goals have been scored by Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese forward is still in the hunt for the Premier League Golden Boot with 16 goals to his name this season. Ronaldo is the only United player that offers any value in the first / any time scorer markets. You can back Ronaldo to score first at 9/2 whilst he is excellent value to score at any time at 29/20.
Chelsea’s main goal threat is likely to come from Kai Havertz. The German could become the first Chelsea player to score in four consecutive away league games since Diego Costa in 2016. Havertz is 17/10 to score at any time on Thursday.
Match odds
- Manchester United: 23/10
- Draw: 12/5
- Chelsea: 23/20
