Key events
Will Unwin
Marcus Rashford could have a summer of transfer limbo in store despite Michael Carrick admitting the door is not completely closed on the forward playing for Manchester United again. Rashford is currently on loan at Barcelona but it is becoming increasingly unlikely the move will be made permanent, which will obligate a return to Old Trafford where he would receive a wage rise if the club qualify for the Champions League.
The 28-year-old has not played for United since December 2024, spending the past 16 months out on loan at Aston Villa and Barcelona, who have the option to purchase Rashford for €30m (£26m). United sit comfortably in third, seven points above Saturday’s opponents, sixth-placed Chelsea, but will not want to see the gap close come full time at Stamford Bridge.
After two seasons without Champions League football, returning to Europe’s top table is vital for United but will result in players’ wages increasing, with Rashford’s salary reaching £325,000 per week on his deal, which runs until 2028. United would be keen to sell him but few could match his earnings.
Exclusive interview: Cole Palmer
Jacob Steinberg
There are two sides to Cole Palmer. There is the shy character who can fool you into thinking he has nothing much to say for himself. On the other hand there’s the artist with the ball at his feet. The player with the “Ice Cold” celebration copied by kids in playgrounds everywhere. The improviser who makes the price of a ticket worthwhile.
“I know what you’re saying,” Palmer replies as, on a sunny afternoon at Chelsea’s training ground, we talk about the contrast between his shy conversational style and his ability to make an impact on people when he steps on the pitch. “I don’t really say too much in general but when I’m on a pitch I try to. I feel like it’s two different personalities. Off the pitch it’s quiet. I find it hard to speak to new people. But when I’m on the pitch I feel it just comes freely.”
Chelsea’s No 10 takes a while to open up during our chat. Football is his chosen language. The boy from Wythenshawe admits that he is guarded with new people. Questions about whether the boy from Wythenshawe visualises moves and tried to copy his heroes when he was younger fall flat.
By the end, though, the 23-year-old has warmed up and is nattering away. He is laughing about last summer’s chaotic win against Benfica at the Club World Cup (the game lasted four hours after a delay due to stormy weather in North Carolina) and delivering an update on his views on southern people. He has gone into detail about his injury woes and it feels significant that he has agreed to meet. It is easy to talk during a winning run. It shows character to do it when the world is on your back.
Team news
Enzo Fernandez returns to the Chelsea side after being left out of their last two games. Liam Delap also comes into the side, with Andrey Santos and Joao Pedro dropping out. Joao Pedro isn’t in the squad.
It looks like either Luke Shaw or Noussair Mazraoui will start in the centre of defence for Man Utd. There are four changes from the team that started against Leeds on Monday. Diogo Dalot, Ayden Heaven, Kobbie Mainoo and Bryan Mbeumo come in for Lisandro Martinez, Leny Yoro, Manuel Ugarte and Amad Diallo.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Sánchez; Gusto, Fofana, Hato, Cucurella; Caicedo, Enzo; Estevao, Palmer, Neto; Delap.
Subs: Sharman-Lowe, Acheampong, Chalobah, Tosin, Andrey Santos, Essugo, Lavia, Garnacho, Guiu.
Man Utd (4-2-3-1) Lammens; Mazraoui, Heaven, Shaw, Dalot; Casemiro, Mainoo; Mbeumo, Fernandes, Cunha; Sesko.
Subs: Bayindir, Malacia, Mount, T Fletcher, Thwaites, Ugarte, Amad, Lacey, Zirkzee.
Referee Michael Oliver.
Preamble
Pop quiz, hotshot: name the last time fixture between Chelsea and Manchester United in which both managers were English? The answer is 28 September 1986, when Kerry Dixon scored the only goal for John Hollins’ Chelsea and Ron Atkinson’s United missed two penalties. United stayed 21st in the league; Chelsea’s win lifted them to the dizzy heights of 17th.
Liam Rosenior and Michael Carrick have loftier ambitions, tonight and for the next month. Both are fighting to quality for next season’s Champions League – not least because, if they fail, there may not be a next season. We might argue that the pressure on Rosenior is premature and unfair, but it exists and it’ll increase if Chelsea fail to win tonight.
Both teams are in the middle of dodgy spells. Chelsea have taken five points from their last seven league games, United four from the last four. But United still have a seven-point Champions League cushion, so a draw would be an excellent result for them – particularly as they are without their four first-choice centre-halves.
A strength of Carrick’s management has been the use of appropriately shaped pegs and holes. Tonight, he may have to get creative.
Kick off 8pm.
