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EPL: Can Mourinho end Chelsea’s unbeaten runs as United visit Bridge

 

Jose Mourinho returns to Stamford Bridge again as his Manchester United side look to halt Chelsea’s unbeaten start to the season.
The Blues have taken 20 points from a possible 24 under Maurizio Sarri in the Premier League, quickly taking to life under the Italian who replaced Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge this summer.
Mourinho meanwhile appeared on the brink at Old Trafford before a huge comeback victory over Newcastle prior to the international break that gave the United boss some breathing space.
Chelsea’s only injury concern heading into Saturday is Antonio Rudiger, who withdrew from the Germany squad during the international break due to a groin injury.
The centre-half remained in west London to undergo individual training sessions and will be hopeful of recovering in time. The former Roma defender has started and completed seven of his side’s eight Premier League matches this term.
For United, Luke Shaw and Nemanja Matic withdrew from the England and Serbia squads respectively with the two to be assessed in the coming week.
Jesse Lingard meanwhile has not played since the EFL Cup defeat to Derby but United are hopeful the England international will be fit for the crucial run of fixtures that immediately follows the international break.
Ander Herrera, who has performed so impressively against Eden Hazard in past fixtures, has been another recent injury absentee but has returned to training during the international break.
Eden Hazard is the PL’s top scorer with seven strikes and he has also contributed three assists, making him the first player to record 10 goal involvements this season. Meanwhile, no player has provided more assists than Olivier Giroud, with four.
The forward has long held a reputation of being a match-winner at Chelsea, but he appears more dangerous than ever under Sarri.
Paul Pogba was the architect of the win, taking over the game from a deep midfield position to force his side forward towards three points.
The France international has struggled under Mourinho since arriving at the club from Juventus two years ago, and the Portuguese is yet to find a method that allows the midfielder to perform consistently.
However, Pogba has three goals and one assist in eight Premier League and UEFA Champions League matches, and he holds the key to United reigniting their fortunes.
Alexis Sanchez has been exposed since joining from Arsenal in January, as Mourinho chooses to play a ponderous and pragmatic style. It doesn’t help the Chile international when the ball is moved at a pedestrian pace far too often.
Sanchez came off the bench to provide the winning goal against Newcastle in a remarkable fightback, and United supporters will hope this is the moment when his Red Devils career truly starts.
Manchester United has the chance to secure their first victory at Stamford Bridge in all competitions since Sir Alex Ferguson retired at the end of the 2012/13 season (P6 W0 D1 L5).
The Blues are one of only two sides against whom United have lost more matches in the Premier League than they have won, suffering 18 defeats. The other side is Brighton & Hove Albion.
An away day at Stamford Bridge is always a big game for United, but this match takes on added significance when considering the form book.
The visitors cannot afford another poor result after a painful early season, but the hosts will be motivated to turn the screw on the Old Trafford club.
Manchester United traditionally dominated the fixture with 77 wins over the years but Chelsea has been closing the gap with 54 wins to their name.
The Blues have not lost at home to United since October 2012, losing just two of the 16 meetings between the two since then.


DID YOU KNOW?

1.    Chelsea are looking to remain unbeaten throughout their first nine matches of a Premier League season for the third time, having also done so in their title-winning campaigns of 2005/06 and 2014/15.
2.    Manchester United are bidding to build momentum after their comeback against Newcastle United.
3.    Eden Hazard is the PL’s top scorer with seven strikes and he has also contributed three assists, making him the first player to record 10 goal involvements this season. Meanwhile, no player has provided more assists than Olivier Giroud, with four.
4.    Manchester United has the chance to secure their first victory at Stamford Bridge in all competitions since Sir Alex Ferguson retired at the end of the 2012/13 season (P6 W0 D1 L5).
5.    The Blues are one of only two sides against whom United have lost more matches in the Premier League than they have won, suffering 18 defeats. The other side is Brighton & Hove Albion.
6.    England’s first goal against Spain last night (scored by Raheem Sterling) ended a 17-pass move that involved all 11 of England’s players.
7.    Nathaniel Chalobah is the first outfield player to represent England while playing for Watford since John Barnes vs Brazil in May 1987. Masterplan.
8.    Raheem Sterling has scored two goals in a game for the first time for @England, while this also is the first time Harry Kane has provided two assists in a match for the Three Lions.
9.    The last England keeper to keep a clean sheet away vs Spain was @Peter_Shilton in 1980, while the last England player to score away vs Spain was @GaryLineker in 1987.
10.    After going seven games without defeat between March and October 2017 (W4 D3), Scotland has since lost seven of their last nine games in all competitions (W2).
11.    Scotland are winless in their last five meetings with Portugal (D2 L3), last winning back in March 1980 under Jock Stein (4-1).
12.    Ireland are now without a win in four competitive games (D2 L2), with three of those matches coming against Denmark (D2 L1).
13.    Republic of Ireland conceded as many goals in their last match against Denmark (a 1-5 defeat in November 2017’s World Cup qualifying play-off second leg) as they had in their previous six meetings combined.
14.    Brad Potts has scored five goals in 10 appearances in all competitions for @BarnsleyFC this season, one more than he netted in 41 games in 2017-18.
15.    Thierry Henry will become the fourth 1998 World Cup winner to manage a Ligue 1 team, after Didier Deschamps, Laurent Blanc & Patrick Vieira.
16.    At 18 years and 201 days old, Jadon Sancho is the second youngest England player to win his first cap in a competitive game, behind only Duncan Edwards (18y 183d) in April 1955 against Scotland.
17.    England recorded just one shot in the first half against Croatia; the fewest amount in the opening 45 minutes of an away game for the Three Lions since June 2015 against Republic of Ireland (also, 1).


FEATURES

EPL
Chelsea    v    Man Uyd
Bo’mouth    v     Southampton
Cardiff    v    Fulham
Man City    v    Burnley
Newcastle    v    Brighton
West Ham    v    Tottenham
Wolves    v    Watford
Huddersfield    v    Liverpool
Everton    v    C/Palace
Arsenal    v    Leicester
LA LIGA
Celta Vigo    v    Alaves
Real Madrid    v    Levante
Valencia    v    Leganes
Villarreal    v    Atletico
Barcelona    v    Sevilla
Vallecano    v    Getafe
Eibar    v    Bilbao
Huesca    v    Espanyol
Real Betis    v    Valladolid
Sociedad    v    Girona
SERIE A
Roma    v    SPAL
Juventus    v    Genoa
Udinese    v    Napoli
Frosinone    v    Empoli
Chievo    v    Atalanta
Bologna    v    Torino
Parma    v    Lazio
Fiorentina    v    Cagliari
Inter    v    Milan
BUNDESLIGA
Sampdoria    v    Sassuolo
Frankfurt    v    Duesseldorf
Nuernberg    v    Hoffenheim
Leverkusen    v    Hannover
Augsburg    v    Leipzig
Stuttgart    v    Dortmund
Wolfsburg    v    Bayern
Schalke    v    Bremen
Berlin    v    Freiburg
Mo’gladbach    v    Mainz 05
LIGUE 1
Lyon    v    Nimes
PSG    v    Amiens
Dijon    v    Lille
Nantes    v    Toulouse
Strasbourg    v    Monaco
Caen    v    Guingamp
Reims    v    Angers
Montpellier    v    Bordeaux
St-Etienne    v    Rennes
Nice    v    Marseille


POSSIBLE LINE-UP

Man Utd: De Gea, Bailly, Smalling, Young, Shaw, Pogba, Matic, McTominay, Lukaku, Rashford, Martial.
Chelsea: Kepa, Rudiger, Alonso, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Jorginho, Kante, Barkley, Hazard, Giroud, Willian.


…his previous encounter with Blues

Jose Mourinho takes his Manchester United side to former club Chelsea on Saturday, lunchtime, hoping to close the gap on the joint Premier League leaders.
Saturday will be the ninth time the Portuguese has faced his old side in competitive action, having first played them while in charge of Inter Milan in the Champions League eight years ago.
Since those two encounters, Mourinho has gone head to head with the Blues on six other occasions as United boss.
However, having tasted victory on his first return to west London, the ‘Special One’ has lost his last three matches at Stamford Bridge.
And with the chance to move within just four points of the team, he managed over two spells between 2004-2007 and 2013-2015, we take a look at his previous clashes with Chelsea…
Mourinho enjoyed a winning start against Chelsea following his first stint at the club when his Inter Milan side hosted the Blues in the Champions League in February 2010.
Diego Milito put the Italians ahead after just three minutes when he beat Petr Cech at his near post and after Didier Drogba hit the bar from 25 yards, Salomon Kalou brought Chelsea level five minutes after the break.
But parity lasted just three minutes as Wesley Sneijder’s cross fell to Esteban Cambiasso and he scored at the second attempt to give Mourinho’s side a one-goal lead to protect in the return leg.
Mourinho was confident of getting the result required at Stamford Bridge and his players did not let him down – Samuel Eto’s clinical strike on 79 minutes settling a scrappy encounter and sealing a spot in the last eight minutes.
An ill-tempered evening, in which the ‘Special One’ was targeted for abuse by the home fans, ended with Didier Drogba sent off in the closing minutes after a penalty area clash with Thiago Motta.
While his backroom staff celebrated wildly, Mourinho cut a more restrained figure, but he would go on to win the treble that season, beating Bayern Munich 2-0 in the Champions League final before resigning to take over at Real Madrid.
The first of three meetings between the two clubs last season saw Mourinho humiliated at Stamford Bridge as the eventual champions routed his new side.
After a warm welcome from the home fans, it took just 30 seconds for the players to spoil his return to west London as Pedro pounced on a defensive mix-up to score, before Gary Cahill volleyed home on 21 minutes.
Chelsea then sat back after the break and hit United on the break, Eden Hazard weaving into the area to add a third on 62 minutes with N’Golo Kante wrapping up the win on 70 minutes.
Mourinho’s frustrations were evident at the final whistle as he remonstrated with Conte about his behaviour on the touchline, feeling the Italian had “humiliated” him and his team.


Mourinho’s results v Chelsea

Feb 2010     (Champions League)     Inter Milan     Chelsea     W 2-1
March 2010     (Champions League)     Chelsea     Inter Milan     W 0-1
Oct 2016     (Premier League)     Chelsea     Man Utd     L 4-0
March 2017     (FA Cup)         Chelsea     Man Utd     L 1-0
April 2017     (Premier League)     Man Utd     Chelsea     W 2-0
Nov 2017     (Premier League)     Chelsea     Man Utd     L 1-0
Feb 2018     (Premier League)     Man Utd     Chelsea     W 2-1
May 2018     (FA Cup)         Chelsea     Man Utd     L 1-0
Inter 2-1     Chelsea (February 24, 2010)

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