Manchester United face stern test against Chelsea in Carabao Cup

Manchester United look to make it three wins in a row when they travel away to Stamford Bridge in Carabao Cup.

Ole Gunnar Solksjaer had one of the better weeks at Manchester United after the second international break of the season. United managed to win two away games and held Liverpool for 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in the last ten days. The next test for the Red Devils is an away trip to Stamford Bridge in Carabao Cup.

Chelsea received a 4-0 hammering at the hands of United in the opening day of the Premier League. However, the fortunes of both teams have been contrasting since that game at Old Trafford.

The Blues are playing free-flowing football under Frank Lampard and currently sit fourth in the League table. On the other hand, United are seventh in the league, seven points behind Chelsea. This game will further help in showing how much both teams have progressed under their new managers.

Team News

Chelsea will be without a few first-team players for this game. N’Golo Kante and Antonio Rudiger remain on sidelines and will miss the clash against Manchester United.

Ross Barkley is also expected to miss the game against Red Devils, but Frank Lampard confirmed that the English midfielder is close to being completely fit. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is the long term absentee for the hosts.

On the other hand, the visitors will be without Luke Shaw, Diogo Dalot and Paul Pogba for this game. Shaw continues to recover from a hamstring injury that he suffered a month ago while Pogba is not expected to return before December.

There are also doubts about Nemanja Matic’s availability for this game. The Serbian midfielder missed the last three games due to injury. Solksjaer is yet to give an update on Matic’s return as the midfielder went to Dubai last week for the recovery process. Eric Bailly is the long term absentee for United as he is expected to return at the end of December.

From the dugout

In the pre-match press conference (via football.london), Frank Lampard admitted that his team is progressing well and the opening day defeat against Man United feels like a distant memory.

“It feels a million miles away, but I’m not disregarding it. They hurt us four times in a game we played particularly well in.”

“We’re improving. That’s the main thing, what we’ve been striving for. Pleasing to see good signs. Lots of things we like, lots of things to improve on. Don’t want to get carried away, but it encourages to keep working and look for more.”

“We’ll target them all (trophies). It comes earliest in the year, and potentially in the quarter-finals early. We want to win every game, but we’re up against a top opponent tomorrow. Every game you have to give everything to try and win.”

Meanwhile, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer also had nothing but praise for Lampard and his young players during his interview with The Telegraph. However, he highlighted the difference between the young players in both squads.

“It is a very exciting team. Frank has got players that have been on loan for one or two seasons in the Championship.”

“The difference between my youngsters is that they are almost stepping right now onto the scene. Axel Tuanzebe has missed the last couple of games for us, but he has been out on loan and you can see the benefit, and I think Chelsea’s young players benefit from that now. They are a mature young team.”

Head to Head

Chelsea has dominated United over the years at Stamford Bridge. United’s long wait came to an end earlier this year when Solksjaer’s men won an F.A. cup tie in this stadium last season. Chelsea are in great form right now, while United is slowly gaining some sort of momentum. The current form of both teams will make this game an exciting encounter involving many young players.