With seven games to go, Chelsea travel to Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon, knowing that if they pick up three points, the Premier League title race will be rapidly nearing its conclusion and that they will be in an almost unassailable position to be crowned champions.
After claiming what eventually was a fairly straightforward win at Bournemouth, the Blues showed that they were not phased by Tottenham’s dominant performance a few hours earlier.
With Spurs playing at home against the Cherries on Saturday lunchtime, it is almost certain, with how prolific they have been at home, that the gap at the top will be closed once more to four points, and a similar situation the previous week will arise.
With that in mind, it is imperative that Chelsea make a significant statement at Old Trafford with what would be a crucial win that asserts their control at the top of the table, going into the final stretch of the season.
This game, however, is likely to be thoroughly different to the 4-0 battering that United received at the Bridge in October, as shown by the tightness of the FA Cup quarter-final in March, which Chelsea found a lot tougher to break down United, beating them 1-0.
The battle between Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte will be immense, and both will go head-to-head and attempt to outwit one another with a change of tactics, formation, or player selection. Here’s how we think the Blues will line up against United on Sunday.
