Although MU is facing difficulties, they have always had points ahead of Chelsea for a long time.
MU playing at home is no longer a certainty anymore as this season they have lost 3/7 matches at Old Trafford in the Premier League. And Chelsea’s away trip next Wednesday night (3:15, December 7) is forecast to be more or less good or bad for MU because while MU this season faces any strong team, Chelsea has drawn against Liverpool, Arsenal, and Man City. and beat Tottenham.
MU’s form is quite erratic as they have not won 3/6 recent matches in all competitions, including 2 unwinnable matches in the Champions League. Although MU is ranked 7th in the rankings after losing to Newcastle, they are the only team in the top 10 with a negative difference, and the recent loss to Newcastle, although the score was only 1-0 to the Tyneside opponent, was a good performance. MU’s is really bad in almost every aspect.
But over the past 6 years, Chelsea has always been the team that MU can rely on when they need points in difficult times. Since November 2017 when Alvaro Morata scored the only goal in Chelsea’s 1-0 win over MU at Stamford Bridge, up to now MU has not lost to Chelsea once in the Premier League. MU’s record against Chelsea during this period is 4 wins and 7 draws.
The 2 biggest wins in this period came during the “honeymoon” moments of the head coaches. In August 2019, when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer entered his first season leading MU in an official position, the “Red Devils” won 4-0 at Old Trafford at the beginning of the season with a double from Marcus Rashford. By May 2023, Erik Ten Hag led MU to a 4-1 win also at Old Trafford, and both of Chelsea’s heavy losses were under the direction of Frank Lampard.
The two teams drew quite a lot in the period 2020 – 2022, both from the time Lampard was in charge at Stamford Bridge until Chelsea was coached by Graham Potter. The series of draws reached 5, including 3 consecutive draws with a score of 1-1 and each match MU was led by a different coach (Carrick, Rangnick, Ten Hag).
MU won 4-1 against Chelsea in May this year to seal the ticket to return to the Champions League
It should be added that over the past 6 years, the Chelsea – MU rivalry has begun to lose its importance in the championship race. There were 2 matches that took place when one of the two teams ranked in the top 2: Chelsea held MU (Second Group) 0-0 in round 26 of the 2020/21 season, and in round 13 of the 2021/22 season, the top team Chelsea was beaten by MU. (ranked 8th) held 1-1 at Stamford Bridge in the match in which Carrick took charge after Solskjaer was fired.
During that time, the victories that Chelsea won against MU only came in the FA Cup. Eden Hazard’s penalty brought Chelsea the only goal in the 2018 final, and two years later at Wembley Chelsea won 3-1 in the semi-finals thanks to goals from Giroud, Mount and an own kick from Maguire.
With erratic performance continuing to show this season, Chelsea may once again create conditions for MU to earn the necessary points. Ten Hag is facing danger due to the recent series of matches, so any positive result now will increase the Dutch coach’s ability to survive a little more.