Chelsea are currently 12th on the Premier League table and with two games remaining, they won’t be able to finish in the top half of the table.
The Blues are one of the few teams who have a midweek fixture and on Thursday, they go to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United, a team who are on the brink of securing a top-four spot.
Manchester United need only a draw from their remaining two matches to be able to play in the Champions League next season and with the kind of form that Chelsea are in right now, Frank Lampard and his boys have an uphill task on their hands.
Chelsea have lost 10 league games this season and to make matters worse they haven’t been able to win against Man United in their previous 10 meetings. Out of these 10 matches, seven have ended in a draw and on Thursday, a draw won’t be a bad result for either team.
For United, one point will be more than enough to be able to finish over Liverpool while for Chelsea, they won’t have to slide further down the table.
Chelsea’s team news and injuries for Thursday:
Against Manchester City, Lampard used a 3-4-2-1 system but with nothing left to play for, the interim manager is likely to name a much more offensive line up.
Badiashile is going to miss out but Koulibaly has returned so he will partner Thiago Silva in central defence. Cucurella, Reece James and Ben Chilwell are all out injured which means Lewis Hall and Chalobah will operate as the two full-backs.
Badiashile has sustained a groin injury and as per the latest reports, he will be out for several months and will also miss the start of next season.
The Chelsea manager has a midfield crisis as well because Kante, Mount and Mateo Kovacic will all miss the trip to Old Trafford which means Lampard will have to put his faith in Gallagher and Loftus-Cheek.
Kai Havertz and Sterling paired up front in the 1-0 loss to Manchester City but in midweek, we think Havertz will be benched and Madueke and Joao Felix will come into the side.
Chelsea predicted line up vs Man United:
Predicted Starting line up(4-3-3): Kepa; Hall, Chalobah, Thiago Silva, Koulibaly; Enzo Fernandez, Gallagher, Loftus-Cheek; Felix, Sterling, Madueke.
