Chelsea will look to bounce back from their defeat to Tottenham Hotspur and strengthen their push for a place in the Premier League’s top four, while Manchester United will aim to return to winning ways when the two sides lock horns on October 31.
Speaking in an interview shared by JioStar, Manchester United legend Michael Owen analysed both teams’ prospects, discussed the key talking points ahead of the game and shared his prediction for the contest.
“Chelsea against Manchester United in the Premier League. Two teams coming into this highly intense fixture on the back of a defeat last time out in the Premier League,” he said.
“Manchester United lost quite heavily to Bournemouth, and Chelsea suffered a surprise defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur. Both Tottenham and Bournemouth deserved their wins against Chelsea and Manchester United respectively. Two huge teams, and it’s time to bounce back. You’d have to say that despite a little bit of ups and downs and inconsistency with Chelsea at the moment, there are some signs of them having a good season.”
“They’re up near the top of the table, and individually they’ve got some very, very good players, particularly in attack. I do think Joao Pedro is one of the most underrated centre forwards and has been for some time. He’s probably getting the credit he deserves nowadays and he’s been a top-class, classy striker for a number of years now. But he’s injured, so he won’t be playing in this match, and Danny Welbeck will be replacing him. With Morgan Rodgers and Cole Palmer in behind, it’s still a very potent attack that Chelsea have got even without Pedro in the side.”
He also spoke about Manchester United’s attacking dilemma and Bruno Fernandes’ situation. Owen said, “On the flip side, who knows what Manchester United’s attack is going to be at the weekend. Obviously, the big decision against Bournemouth was to drop Bruno Fernandes for his outburst against the manager, against tactics, against his teammates, against the squad, against the club in general.”
“And I thought it was the right thing to do from Michael Carrick, despite them losing. I don’t think you can show any form of weakness when you’re a manager, certainly not the manager of Manchester United. So, I thought it was the right thing to do. In fact, he possibly could have gone one step further and left him out of the whole squad entirely. But it will be interesting to see what he does against Chelsea, whether he brings him back in or whether he continues to make him pay and suffer for what he said not so long ago.”
Owen backed Chelsea over Manchester United and said, “In terms of the results, I do think that Chelsea are in a slightly better position mentally, than Manchester United at the moment.”
“Home advantage and some in-form wingers give them the edge. I still think Manchester United’s defense is the weak part of their game. And I can see Chelsea scoring a few goals. They’ve scored quite a few goals already this season and I can see them scoring a few more in this fixture.”
“I’m going to go for a prediction of 3-1 to Chelsea to heap more pressure on Manchester United. I was going to say Michael Carrick, but I don’t think the problem is necessarily just Michael Carrick. It’s Manchester United as a club, because the fans seem to have turned on the board, the hierarchy, and the players more so than the manager. And I would say rightly so. Interesting game, but I think it’s going to be 3-1 to the Blues.”
