Early goal will be doubly important for Chelsea against Manchester United

Early goals are often important and always good to have, but will be even more significant when Chelsea host Manchester United on Sunday.

Pedro opened the scoring in the first minute of this fixture last season. His early goal set in motion a romp that ended with N’Golo Kante capping off a 4-0 win. Pedro nearly repeated the feat against AS Roma midweek. He could not apply a strong finish, though, and Roma’s goalkeeper easily collected the ball. Twenty seconds later, Stephan El Shaarawy did what Pedro could not and set in motion a romp that went hard against Chelsea.

Pedro’s goal denied Jose Mourinho any opportunity to execute his game plan. Manchester United immediately had to start chasing an equalizer, which would allow them get back on their usual footing of playing for a draw or late winner. This left them exposed, and Chelsea capitalized with the second goal 20 minutes later. Even though the next goal came in the second half, the rout was on.

Manchester United have played Mourinho-ball very effectively against the top clubs this season. The longer the game goes on in a draw – particularly a scoreless draw – the longer Mourinho is in tactical control of the proceedings.

Chelsea, though, must be also remember the lessons of the reverse fixture. United came out with a sweeping attack to return the favour. Marcus Rashford scored in the 7′, and United added another for the 2-0 win. Mourinho won the tactical battle as well as the game, and showed the dangers of pigeon-holing your expectations about what he will do.

Given his ability to merge smart tactics with the dark arts, Mourinho may start Sunday’s game with a similar offensive thrust. An early United goal will bring all the demons of Roma to Stamford Bridge. Antonio Conte and the Blues would start to question themselves, thinking about what had happened under similar circumstances just five days earlier. Those thoughts quickly become a self-fulfilling prophecy as desperation and indecision breed indiscipline, infighting and distraction.

The early 1-0 goal lead could very easily become 2-0. Coming back against Watford is one thing. Coming back against Jose Mourinho, after the week and month Chelsea have just had and with the international break looming, is a different beast altogether.

Next: Three tactical shifts Chelsea can make to overcome Manchester United

Both managers may come out loaded for bear looking for the early goal. On tactics as well as recent form, scoring in the first 15 minutes will be more important to Chelsea than United. If the Blues can deny Mourinho the opportunity to park the bus and force him to play “positive” football, while also keeping recent memories at bay, they will have a much greater chance of taking the three points.