Chelsea take on Manchester United on Saturday evening in a crucial Premier League fixture and the Blues have been handed a big boost
Chelsea take on Manchester United on Saturday evening in what has turned into a must-win match for the Blues in their bid for Champions League football.
Sunday’s defeat to Manchester City, 24 hours after Liverpool beat Fulham at Anfield, means the fifth-place Reds are now four points above Chelsea with six matches of the season left to play. United, who sit in third place in the Premier League table, are the visitors to Stamford Bridge on Saturday night but Michael Carrick will be without one key defender for the trip to west London.
Lisandro Martinez was shown a straight red card during Monday evening’s 2-1 defeat to Leeds United at Old Trafford. The Argentine defender was sent off after VAR spotted a momentary hair pull on Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Paul Tierney was advised to go over to the review monitor and the referee pulled out the red card, meaning Martinez now faces a three-match ban.
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Carrick, speaking to Sky Sports after, was furious: “It’s not a pull, it’s not a tug, it’s not aggressive, he touches it and gets sent off. Worst of all is he was sent to overturn it as a clear and obvious error. It’s shocking.
“He’s off-balance because of that, he half touches the back of his hair which pulls the bobble out and leads it to look like – I don’t even know what it looks like. That’s two games in a row we’ve had those decisions go against us, but that one was one of the worst I’ve seen.”
Carrick, though, is set to welcome back Harry Maguire for the trip to Stamford Bridge. Maguire was shown a straight red card in the draw with Bournemouth prior to the international break and because it was a denial of a goal scoring opportunity, it means the defender only served a one-match ban.
Maguire is set to partner Leny Yoro at the heart of the United defence as Chelsea look to take advantage of Martinez’s absence. However, the Blues are in a bit of a rut in front of goal at the moment.
Saturday’s 3-0 defeat to Man City means Chelsea have now lost three straight Premier League games without scoring a single goal for the first time since March 1998. The Blues have one win in their last six league outings, and have lost four of their last five games in the competition.
Liam Rosenior admitted on Sunday that it will be difficult to turn the form around: “It is [difficult] but we have to keep working. We have to keep trying to improve.
“I have to get the team selection right on the balance of our attack and play, but also defending better in certain moments and that is what we will focus on.”
