Chelsea FC Visit Manchester United: Predictions

Chelsea FC travel to Old Trafford this afternoon in a highly-anticipated clash, so let’s get some predictions from our staff writers.

With kick-off just hours away, the excitement is building for Chelsea’s meeting with an under-pressure Manchester United team. Rumours surrounding Louis Van Gaal’s departure, whether it be via sacking or resignation, have been rife on the back of United’s loss against Stoke City on Saturday.

With the Blues desperately in need of a win, they catch the Red Devils at a good time. I’ve had a whip-round the virtual Pride Of London office to get some predictions from the fellas.

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Khaled Abdallah: My gut feeling tells me Chelsea and United will draw 1-1. United have had trouble scoring but we’ve been generous to just about every team that we’ve faced this season. The prospect of Jose Mourinho joining United hangs over this fixture but I can’t see them bringing him in after all the complaints their fans have had over LVG’s defensive tactics.

Ejoh Celestine: Man Utd 2-1 Chelsea. Apologies guys, but with our sorry backline and Man Utd’s better one couple with our recent run of bad luck, I believe Man Utd edge this one as really small margins may determine the outcome of the game.

Neel Madhavan: Chelsea 1-1 United. If Diego Costa wasn’t suspended for yellow card accumulation, I’d say 2-1 Chelsea with the winner coming from the bullish Spaniard. But, honestly, based on recent form, this fixture is a toss up to me for both teams. So I’m going with the draw.

Andre Carlisle: 2-1. Maybe I still have a Christmas contact high but I’m not feeling as much doom and gloom as before. Much of the Watford match was weird – like why did Oscar take a penalty when we had a striker on a hat trick for the first time this season – but when it wasn’t weird it was encouraging.

Brendan McDonnell: This is kind of hilarious, but do you realize we are playing a squad that is MORE unstable at the Managerial position than Chelsea?  Think about that for a second.

As for a prediction, who knows anymore. If Oscar (can we all forget I picked him for POY please, thanks) doesn’t sleep on his PK, how do we feel about the weekend match as a performance overall?  An in-form Diego Costa would’ve been nice against a backline that is suspect but, well, he went and gave us the full Diego Experience on Saturday.

I think MUFC is weak on the wings and ours will turn them around all day long.  Pedro shines, Courtois upstages De Gea, and Chelsea get the 1-0 result.

Anoop Ramakrishnan: I have to agree with Brendan’s assessment regarding the form and atmosphere surrounding both the teams. United are wobbling and despite our own defensive record not improving too much, we have been able to score 5 goals in the last 2 matches.

Costa’s non-involvement, I feel, shouldn’t be a factor, since he has been absent in many ways throughout this season. Despite his brace against Watford, it’s too soon to suggest he is back in form. I think Oscar & Willian hold keys to us doing well in this match. Anything from Hazard, if he features, will be a bonus. Fabregas now seems to have joined the injured list and I hope Loftus-Cheek features for us today over Mikel.

With our wing play being better than United and with them struggling to score goals, I would like to predict a 2-0 scoreline in our favour.

Joseph Williams: I’ll go with a 2-2 draw. While United have been struggling this far, my thoughts are that they’ll deem Chelsea the perfect opponent to start a turnaround. There have been some positives over the past two games for the Blues, which should hopefully give them some confidence in being able to take it to them, rather than take a more cautious approach.

Marco Vonderheide: Given what we saw from the first match of the second Hiddink era, I’ll say that Chelsea find a way to get a victory at Old Trafford. Even with Costa out, there seems to be a better energy in the squad. If the Spaniard was playing I would probably go for a more commanding Chelsea win, but I think the match will end up 1-0 for the Blues. I’m still hoping we’ll see Loftus-Cheek for a change, seems like it’s been ages since he’s received any meaningful minutes in the first team.

As for me? Well I’m heading with a somewhat surprising 2-0 win for the visitors. Manchester United are in free-fall and it is written in the stars that a Chelsea win heralds the arrival of Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford.

What about you? Leave us your predictions in the comments below!

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We’ve been running a mini-league so far this season and this is how it stands so far. There are five points on offer for a correct score and two for a correct result.