Is Michael Carrick running out of time? We look ahead to Saturday’s Premier League clash with our Chelsea vs Man Utd prediction and preview.

Chelsea vs Man Utd: The Key Stats

• The Opta supercomputer backed Chelsea as the favourites; they beat Manchester United in a convincing 51.8% of pre-match simulations.
• Chelsea have won just two of their last 17 Premier League games against United.
• Man Utd could lose by 3+ goals for three consecutive matches in all competitions for the first time since 1961.

Michael Carrick desperately needs a result as his struggling Manchester United travel to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

United were comfortably dispatched 3-0 by Bournemouth at Old Trafford last time out, compounding their misery after a 4-1 thrashing at Como in the UEFA Champions League just a few days prior.

With a troublesome run of form, Man Utd are nearing some unwanted records. They have not lost three straight games in all competitions by three or more goals since doing so across November and December 1961.

Carrick’s side are winless in their last eight games in all competitions overall (D3 L5) since beating Sabah in the Champions League on 10 September. They have not gone more matches without victory since a nine-game stretch in 1988.

There is also a sense of unrest in the United camp. Carrick dropped captain Bruno Fernandes to the bench for Bournemouth’s visit after he seemingly criticised his tactics in the Como defeat, but the Portuguese international is expected to return. Reports suggest Fernandes and Carrick have held clear-the-air talks, with the aim of turning the club’s season around.

Harry Maguire could celebrate his 300^th Premier League appearance, though that personal achievement will do little to quell his team’s turmoil. He has played every minute for United this season, along with Senne Lammens and Bryan Mbeumo.

Chelsea aren’t exactly in fine form themselves, with a particularly disappointing performance in their last league outing when they lost 2-0 at home to rivals Tottenham. With João Pedro out injured, Cole Palmer’s red card capped a miserable showing for Xabi Alonso’s side.

Although João Pedro could be out until late November, Palmer served his one-match suspension on Wednesday as Chelsea were eliminated from the EFL Cup on penalties by Liverpool at Anfield. Morgan Rogers scored from the spot in the first half of a 1-1 draw.

Alonso may look to Danny Welbeck to cover João Pedro’s absence. The 35-year-old has six Premier League goals when facing Man Utd, the most any player has ever scored against the Red Devils having played for them in the competition previously.

Whoever starts up top, Alonso needs a response. Chelsea have lost the most league games (11) since the start of March, while also losing 44.4% of their matches in 2026 (12/27).

That marks Chelsea’s worst ratio in a year since 1993, when they lost 20 of 41 games (48.8%), and Alonso hardly has happy memories of facing United as he prepares for this clash.

He lost five of his seven Premier League games against Man Utd as a Liverpool player (W1 D1) – his joint-most defeats against an opponent, along with Chelsea. Alonso did win 2-1 with Real Madrid at Old Trafford in his last playing match against United, with Carrick also featuring for 90 minutes in that March 2013 meeting.

There is also a spooky record for Alonso to overturn. Chelsea are the only Premier League side to play more than one home game on Halloween and lose each match, going down 2-1 to Sheffield United in 1992-93 and 3-1 to Liverpool in 2015-16.

Alonso’s growing injury list will give him a fright, too. First-choice goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez remains out with his facial injury, while captain Reece James will not return this year. Maxence Lacroix limped off at Anfield on Wednesday with what appeared to be a hamstring issue.

Carrick has plenty of absentees himself, and will continue without Kobbie Mainoo, Patrick Dorgu, Luke Shaw, Benjamin Sesko and Manual Ugarte, though Marcus Rashford could come back should he pass a late fitness test.

Chelsea vs Man Utd Head-to-Head

Chelsea have struggled in this fixture in recent times, winning just two of their last 17 Premier League matches against Manchester United (D8 L7).

However, their two victories did both come at Stamford Bridge in that run, winning 4-3 in 2023-24 and 1-0 the following campaign.

Meanwhile, United – who did the league double over Chelsea last season – will be out for three straight league wins against the Blues for the first time since September 1965.

Matheus Cunha scored the only goal of the game in this exact fixture in April, following up a 2-1 victory for United at Old Trafford back in September last year.

Chelsea vs Man Utd Prediction

The Opta supercomputer has sided with the home team for this clash, with Chelsea beating Manchester United in 51.8% of pre-match simulations.

Carrick’s side hold just a 23.7% chance of a first win in nine games, while the draw was more likely at 24.6%.

Chelsea vs Man Utd Predicted Lineups

Chelsea: Mike Penders, Josh Acheampong, Wesley Fofana, Levi Colwill, Jorrel Hato, Jordan Henderson, Moisés Caicedo, Pedro Neto, Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, Danny Welbeck.

Head coach: Xabi Alonso

Manchester United: Senne Lammens, Leny Yoro, Lisandro Martínez, Harry Maguire, Diogo Dalot, Andrey Santos, Carlos Baleba, Bruno Fernandes, Amad Diallo, Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo.

Head coach: Michael Carrick

Opta Power Rankings

The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system that assigns an ability score to over 16,000 domestic football teams on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world, and 100 is the best team in the world.

Ahead of kick-off this weekend, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.

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