The new season in the English Premier League started with a bang - in the first round, we will witness a clash between the teams of "Manchester United" and London's "Chelsea".
These teams are led by two club legends - Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Frank Lampard. The highly anticipated showdown between these twelve will take place at "Old Trafford" stadium.
Both teams did not make significant changes to their squads this summer. "Chelsea" had a transfer ban, so only one new face arrived at the club - Christian Pulisic, acquired from Dortmund's "Borussia" team last winter. The team's ranks were supplemented by returning loanee strikers Mitchy Batshuayi and Tammy Abraham, as well as a few young players who have already caught F. Lampard's attention.
Having had a poor finish to the season, "Manchester United" did not excite their fans too much in the transfer window - the team received reinforcements in defense, but the core of the midfield and attack remained largely the same. The "Red Devils", who had problems in defense, will try to solve them with the acquisitions of Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
It is expected that both players will make their debut against "Chelsea" today. H. Maguire has not featured in any friendly matches yet, while former Crystal Palace full-back A. Wan-Bissaka has already shone since the beginning of the preparation cycle.
The key losses for both teams are in attack - "Man Utd" parted ways with Romelu Lukaku, while "Chelsea" was forced to sell Eden Hazard, who flew to Madrid's Real club. "Chelsea" feels a much greater loss, as E. Hazard was the leader and main creator of attacks for several years.
"Manchester United" played six friendly matches in the preparation cycle, all of which ended in victories. In their last match against Milan, the "Red Devils" triumphed only after an 11-meter penalty shootout, although victories were achieved during regular time in previous games.
Solskjaer's team defeated "Perth Glory", "Leeds United", Milan's "Inter", London's "Tottenham" and "Kristiansund" on the way to the new season. The "Man Utd" team could boast excellent defensive performances in the set of six games - in four out of six matches they kept a clean sheet.
Frank Lampard's squad also had a good preparation for the season, playing one more game than "Man Utd", although they finished the season two weeks later than their current opponents.
The friendly match cycle started with a draw against "Bohemians", but a few days later the team defeated "St. Patrick" 4-0. In their first trip to Asia, the "Blues" ended with a defeat against the "Kawasaki Frontale" team, but immediately after that, "Chelsea" recorded a series of three victories - defeating "Barcelona", "Reading" and "Salzburg" clubs.
The last friendly match against Borussia Monchengladbach ended in a 2-2 draw. F. Lampard should be a bit worried about his defense - in the last three games a total of eight goals were conceded.
"Chelsea", which could not strengthen the positions where reinforcement was probably most needed this summer, is forced to start the season without several key players. Antonio Rudiger, N'Golo Kante, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek did not feature in the friendly matches.
F. Lampard stated in a pre-match press conference that Rudiger and Kante will travel to Manchester, but he does not know if both players will be ready to play. It is believed that the center-back duo will definitely be without the German - it will be formed by Andreas Christensen and Kurt Zouma. It is also unclear if the team will be able to rely on Willian, who started his preparation for the season late.
"Manchester United" is not facing such big problems in their squad - long-term injured Eric Bailly and Timothy Fosu-Mensah will definitely miss the match, while Alexis Sanchez, like Willian, had an extended break.
Predicted lineups:
"Man Utd": (4-2-3-1) David De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw; Paul Pogba, Scott McTominay; Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard, Daniel James; Anthony Martial.
"Chelsea": (4-2-3-1) Kepa; Cesar Azpilicueta, Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen, Emerson; Jorginho, Kovacic; Pedro, Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic, Tammy Abraham.
Interesting Facts
This will be the first match between "Man Utd" and "Chelsea" since 2004, when the teams met in the first round. The last time these teams faced each other ended with Jose Mourinho's victory at the helm of the "Blues".
"Man Utd" is starting the season with a match against "Chelsea" at their stadium for the first time since 1958, when they achieved a 5-2 victory.
In their last 14 matches, they have managed to defeat "Chelsea" only twice - with six draws and five defeats. However, "Man Utd" is undefeated in their last six encounters - two wins and four draws.
"Chelsea" is the only team in the Premier League that has more wins than losses against "United" - 18 wins and 15 losses.
"Man Utd" has not lost five consecutive matches in the English top flight - they finished the 2018-19 season with three defeats and two draws.
Manchester's team may repeat the record set in 1910, when the team started five consecutive seasons with victories.
"Chelsea" has suffered only one defeat in their last 13 matches in all competitions - eight wins and four draws. The only loss was against "Liverpool".
The "Blues" have never lost the first match of the season in the Premier League, with eight wins and three draws.
