Manchester United vs Chelsea 11/08/19

11 August 2019

Manchester United and Chelsea go head-to-head at Old Trafford for a massive showdown in the opening round of the 2019-20 Premier League fixtures.

Preparing for the new season, the hosts have featured in six summer friendlies pulling off as many wins, with one of them coming after a penalty shootout (against AC Milan). Four of United’s pre-season triumphs have been accompanied by a clean sheet while three of them saw them score 2+ match goals. The Red Devils’ impressive form during the off-season is precious for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who has witnessed his team fail to pick up a win in the final six games across all competitions last season (D2, L4). Another encouraging fact for the Norwegian is United’s recent H2H record against Chelsea (W2, D2, L1), with three of those clashes featuring under 2.5 goals. But, Manchester United will have to pay close attention to their defense that has conceded 54 goals last term – the worst record in the club’s history.

Guided by the new boss, Franck Lampard, the visitors have racked up a four-game unbeaten run ahead of this fixture (W3, D1), with all of those contests seeing Chelsea score 2+ match goals and concede at least one goal per game. Also, six of the Blues’ seven pre-season matches have featured goals in both halves, with the Pensioners finding the net in the first 45 minutes five times in the process. Still, Chelsea’s last triumph at Old Trafford dates back to 2013, with the Blues failing to secure all three points here on their previous six visits here (D4, L2). They have not only struggled to score more than one goal per match across all six of those visits, but they’ve also failed to find the net on three occasions along the way.