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Chelsea (possible 3-4-2-1) Arrizabalaga; Chalobah, Thiago Silva, Cucurella; Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek, Chilwell; Mount, Sterling; Aubameyang.
Substitutes: Mendy, Kovacic, Pulisic, Zakaria, Ziyech, Gallagher, Havertz, Chukwuemeka, Broja.
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Man Utd (4-2-3-1) de Gea; Dalot, Varane, Martinez, Shaw; Casemiro, Eriksen; Antony, Fernandes, Sancho; Rashford.
Substitutes: Heaton, Lindelof, Malacia, Fred, Pellistri, McTominay, Garnacho, Iqbal, Elanga.
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Referee Stuart Attwell.
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Hello and welcome to live coverage of Chelsea v Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. This is a slightly unusual rivalry, which has never fully exploded despite a number of title deciders and even a Champions League final. The status of today’s game is best reflected by the fact the winners will end the day in fourth place. That’s the prime ambition for both clubs this season, particularly United, but there is unlikely to be room at the Champions League table for both of them.
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Still, the two teams look in reasonable shape under their new managers. Chelsea are unbeaten under Graham Potter, even if their last two performances weren’t the best. Those games were away from home; at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have looked formidable. United have been up and down, but looked like a proper Erik ten Hag team for the first time when they overwhelmed Spurs on Wednesday. If they do it again at Stamford Bridge, where they have won only twice in the league in the last 20 years, United fans will have good reason to be excited.
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Kick off 5.30pm.
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Key events
73 min: Chalobah hits the bar! Mount’s booming corner finds Chalobah, who towers above Fred at the far post and heads against the top of the crossbar.
73 min United are starting to look fatigued, and they don’t have much on the bench. Chelsea have been on top since Kovacic came on, albeit without creating many clear chances.
71 min Sterling’s low cross is put behind for another corner by Dalot. Chelsea take it short and make a mess of it.
68 min Fernandes’s imaginative through pass to Rashford is crucially intercepted by the sliding Chalobah.
68 min Mount wriggles stylishly away from Fred and hits a cross that is headed away by Martinez. Chelsea are on top at the moment.
67 min “The sight of a world-class defender, elegance personified, walking to the dressing room in tears at the prospect of missing his last possible World Cup, as an inebriated Chelsea fan with a beer-gut gives him an athletic rendition of the w*nker sign as a send-off…” says Allan Castle. “That’s what makes football a special game, isn’t it?”
66 min Sterling runs Shaw and drives a cross that is well cut out at the near post by Martinez. Then Loftus-Cheek’s cross is headed behind by Shaw.
65 min Stalemate.
62 min A decent United break ends with Fred shooting wastefully wide from the left edge of the area. He should have given the ball to the overlapping Shaw.
60 min Lindelof replaces Varane, who is walking round the side of the field and has just punched a corner flag in frustration.
59 min Varane is in serious pain, and Victor Lindelof is getting ready to come on. The poor bloke has had rotten luck with injuries, and this one could also affect his World Cup chances. He’s in tears, with his shirt over his head and all the United players consoling him. He must know it’s serious.
58 min “Greetings from California,” says Peter Oh. “I woke up this morning to read the jarring news that Nottingham Forest beat Liverpool. What year are we in, 1977?! So this match between Chelsea and Man United is purely for mid-table respectability, is it?”
57 min Aubameyang beats Varane and Martinez on the left before being dispossessed by Casemiro. Moments later, Sterling gets caught in two minds when Kovacic’s cross reaches him beyond the far post.
Varane has stayed face down after trying to tackle Aubameyang, and he may well have jarred something.
55 min So far the second half has been one for the tacticians. There have been only two touches in the opposition penalty areas.
54 min “Mason Mount, supposedly the wholesome blue-eyed boy of English football, just seen on camera shouting ‘that’s f***ing s***’ at the referee three times because of a throw in call that didn’t go his way,” writes Tom Atkins. “Not sure how the FA are supposed to protect referees from abuse up and down the country if this kind of abuse is blithely tolerated at elite level and not remarked upon by either commentator.”
53 min “Even as an Arsenal fan, I wouldn’t be too harsh on Yash Gupta’s verdict on Aubameyang,” writes Admir Pajic. “He scores goals but doesn’t contribute in the general play so his teams do get better once he leaves as long, as he gets replaced with a player who contributes more (Jesus, Lewa).”
52 min Fred has gone into the centre of midfield, with Fernandes playing from the left.
51 min: United substitution Sancho, who has been extremely disappointing, overhits a simple pass to Shaw. It’s his last touch: Fred replaces him.
50 min United, who are no longer controlling the midfield, are readying Fred to come on. Nothing comes of the Chelsea corner.
49 min Loftus-Cheek’s long-range shot deflects off Martinez for a Chelsea corner.
48 min Chelsea have started the second half on the front foot, although Kepa has to come out of his area to intercept a through ball towards Antony.
46 min Peep peep! Chelsea begin the second half.
Half-time reading
This is all kinds of happiness.
Half time: Chelsea 0-0 Man Utd
Peep peep! Not much goalmouth action but it was an interesting half at Stamford Bridge. United were quietly dominant for 35 minutes, prompting Graham Potter to make a tactical substitution, and Chelsea came into the game after that. United had the best chances, though: Rashford was twice denied by Kepa, and Antony shot just wide on the stroke of half-time.
45 min: Great chance for Antony! United should be ahead. Fernandes holds off Jorginho 30 yards from goal and plays a good angled pass to Antony. He takes it nicely in his stride, away from Thiago, but pings a shot this far wide with his right foot.
44 min “Some superpower Aubameyang has,” says Yash Gupta, “every team looked worse with him this year.”
That’s a bit harsh on a man who scored a Clasico hat-trick. But as you’re a Spurs fan, I’ll allow it.
43 min It’s a much more even game now; if anything, Chelsea are on top. Mount’s cutback from the right finds Sterling in the area. He takes a touch and pokes it across to Aubameyang, who is distracted by the sliding Dalot and fails to control the ball. That was a decent chance.
41 min Chilwell floats a cross towards the unmarked Aubameyang, who tries to control it in mid-air, 10 yards from goal, when it would surely have been better to throw himself into a diving header. It was a difficult ball to control and he could only knock it through to de Gea.
40 min Erik ten Hag is playing with a tactics board on the bench. Meanwhile Eriksen, who scored an outrageous goal here a few years ago, cracks another long-range shot wide of the near post. Kepa had it covered.
39 min Chelsea already look better. Kovacic’s pass towards Sterling is intercepted and deflects towards Aubameyang, who steers a volley wide from the edge of the area. In fact, Chelsea’s shape isn’t 4-1-4-1, it’s a diamond with Mount playing behind Aubameyang and Sterling.
37 min Mount and Martinez have a bit of a row, prompting Shaw to come across and usher Mount away.
36 min: Chelsea substitution Kovacic replaces Marc Cucurella, which means Chelsea can match United’s 4-1-4-1 formation. Cucurella accepted the decision without complaint.
35 min Graham Potter is planning an early tactical substitution, with Mateo Kovacic preparing to come on.
34 min Sancho’s deflected drive from the edge of the area is well held by Kepa, who had to change direction and plunge to his left. It’s all United.
33 min Rashford runs at a backpedalling Chelsea defence, gets into the area and rifles a drive that is beaten away by Kepa, diving low to his right. That’s a decent save.
31 min Antony is booked for flattening Jorginho.
29 min Shaw is lucky not to be booked for delaying a Chelsea throw-in.
28 min: Good save by Kepa! That’s a much more significant save. Fernandes snapped a fine first-time through pass to Rashford in the area. His first touch was slightly heavy, which allowed Kepa to rush out and block Rashford’s attempted dink.