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Everything to Know about Manchester United vs. Chelsea: Schedule, How to Watch
After manager Erik Ten Hag is fired, the Red Devils seek to salvage season in battle with rival Blues.
Battles between traditional Premier League powerhouses Manchester United and Chelsea have yielded plenty of drama over the years.
Leading into their next match Sunday, however, much of the dramatic developments have come off the pitch.
Manchester United sacked manager Erik ten Hag just over two years after the Dutchman took the job fresh off a successful run at Ajax Amsterdam. The Dutchman exits with the Red Devils sitting in 14th place -- the club’s worst start in modern Premier League history. Ten Hag had bought himself a reprieve after United’s victory over archrival Manchester City in the FA Cup last season, but his poor transfer record, prickly relations with key players, and inability to get buy-in for his style got in the way.
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Ten Hag leaves his successor – United legend Ruud van Niselrooy in the interim until Sporting CP manager Ruben Amorim arrives in late November – with an over-priced, underachieving roster.
The final nail in the coffin came with United’s 2-1 loss to West Ham last Sunday, an ugly match littered with missed scoring opportunities for Ten Hag’s side.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca, meanwhile, has his side in fifth in the table and challenging for a spot in the Champions League next season. The Italian was hired to develop the youngest squad in the league to be a powerhouse in years to come.
"The club never mentioned to me about top four," Maresca told reporters earlier this week. "They always mentioned to me the target was to build something for the next four or five years."
As shown by the Blues’s 2-1 victory over Newcastle last Sunday, the present is pretty bright, too, when you have Cole Palmer, one of the best players in the world, in your starting 11.
Where and When to Watch Manchester United vs. Chelsea
The match kicks off Sunday, November 3 at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time at Old Trafford in Manchester, England, and will be broadcast on USA Network and Telemundo.
Manchester United News: Ruben Amorim Is Next Manager to Face Big Challenge
United has settled in on the next candidate in the never-ending quest to fill the void left by the great Sir Alex Ferguson: Amorim. The 39-year-old Portuguese tactician is highly regarded, having led his current club, Sporting CP, to two Liga Portugal titles since his appointment in 2020. Sporting currently sits in first place in Week 10 of the new season.
The devil, however, has been in the details. Manchester United will pay a 10-million-pound release fee to Sporting CP; and also agreed to allow Amorim's current team to keep their leader for another three weeks, a crucial three-week stretch in their league play. That means Amorim's first game for United will be on November 24, and Van Nistelrooy remains in charge against Chelsea this Sunday.
Van Nistelrooy is currently 1-0 as Manchester United manager after his team routed Leicester, 5-2, Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup.
Chelsea News: Newcastle Gets Revenge for Sunday's Loss, Bouncing Chelsea from EPL Cup
Compared to their adversaries this Sunday, it’s been a relatively quiet week for Maresca and Chelsea.
Unfortunately, that also describes the offense on the pitch on Wednesday’s Carabao Cup contest that ended in a 2-0 loss to Newcastle United – the second time in four days the two clubs faced off with Chelsea winning 2-1 in Sunday's Premier League play. Newcastle exacted their revenge: The loss eliminated Chelsea from the tournament, one of the three top honors in the English soccer season.
Maresca's decision to start mostly backups to rest his stars for Sunday's match against Manchester United backfired.
Who Are the Chelsea and Manchester United Stars to Watch
Chelsea: Anyone who needs a reminder of just how dynamic a player Palmer is can re-watch the highlights from last Sunday’s 2-1 win over Newcastle. The 22-year-old English superstar, who is tied for third in goals and second in assists in the Premier League, notched one goal and initiated the club’s other score with a beautiful pass. That tally doesn’t even include a beautiful strike in the opening minutes that was overruled by VAR.
Though he is often overshadowed by Palmer, Senegalese striker Nicolas Jackson, who scored the other goal against Newcastle, remains one of the top scorers in the league with six goals in the first nine weeks. At just 23, he’s part of a young core that has helped boost Chelsea into top-flight European contention.
Last Sunday was the first Premier League match in which Reece James played for a full 90 minutes in 18 months. The captain, whose leadership had previously been called into question by Maresca, made a key header to knock away a potential tying goal from Newcastle in the closing minutes. It was a reminder of how key a defender the 24-year-old English national can be – as long as he can stay on the pitch.
Manchester United: Ten Hag's successors will attempt to jumpstart an underachieving and underwhelming squad. Captain Bruno Fernandes is a plus player and leads the Red Devils in assists – with just two through the first nine matches of the season. The 30-year-old Portuguese midfielder is a tenacious defender and a leader in the locker-room, but also has a penchant for collecting ill-advised penalties.
If mercurial forward Marcus Rashford, a two-time 17 goal scorer who has been struggling offensively since the 2022-23 season, can find his old form, it will be a big boost. At just 20 years of age, Alejandro Garnacho has vast potential to be a force in the Premier League if he can find consistency. The Argentinian winger leads the team with two goals in EPL play.
