Chelsea
Manchester UnitedMichael Carrick walked into Old Trafford as an interim in January, after Ruben Amorim was sacked, and by May he had won 11 of his 16 games, taken Manchester United back into the Champions League and been handed a two-year contract. Five months on, the same Carrick takes his side to Stamford Bridge with one league win from seven. Chelsea vs Man United on Saturday 31 October (12:30 GMT, 08:30 ET) puts him up against Xabi Alonso, a manager whose own first months in London have gone better than most people expected after the mess Chelsea made of last season.
Two clubs that swapped places
Last season's table reads strangely now. United finished third on 71 points. Chelsea came tenth, went through Enzo Maresca, Liam Rosenior and two caretaker spells from Calum McFarlane, lost the FA Cup final 1-0 to Manchester City, and ended up out of Europe altogether. Chelsea's own site says it is only the third time in three decades they have had no European campaign.
United also beat them twice. At Old Trafford in September 2025, Robert Sánchez was sent off in the fifth minute and United won 2-1. At Stamford Bridge on 18 April, Chelsea had 21 shots to United's four and still lost 1-0, Matheus Cunha finishing Bruno Fernandes's low cross just before half-time. Rosenior was gone four days later.
So this is a rematch with some history attached, and the roles have flipped. Chelsea sit fourth with 13 points. United are 13th with seven.
What Alonso has built
Alonso arrived on 1 July and Chelsea did what Chelsea do, which is spend heavily and sell heavily in the same window. Morgan Rogers came from Aston Villa for a reported £117m, a British record. Enzo Fernández went to Manchester City for £125m, Marc Cucurella to Real Madrid, Nicolas Jackson to Aston Villa, and Andrey Santos to, of all places, Manchester United. Marco Palestra arrived from Atalanta for £43m and Emmanuel Emegha from Strasbourg, and still they took in more than they spent.
The football has been loud. Chelsea beat Brighton 4-3 and Bournemouth 5-1 at home, drew 2-2 with promoted Hull, lost 2-1 at Arsenal and were thrashed 3-0 at Brentford. Then came the 2-0 win at Everton on 17 October, both goals from Pedro Neto, which Alonso called the kind of away win his side needed. João Pedro leads their scoring and Rogers has four league goals already, including one two minutes into the game at the Emirates.
Cole Palmer signed a new deal to 2034 on 10 October. He missed much of last season with a groin problem and was left out of England's World Cup squad, and Alonso has spent part of the autumn defending him. He's fit now, with goals already this season, and on his day he's the best player on the pitch for either side.
Key facts
| Kick-off | Sat 31 Oct 2026, 12:30 GMT / 13:30 CET / 08:30 ET |
|---|---|
| Venue | Stamford Bridge, London |
| Table on 20 Oct | Chelsea 4th (13 pts), Man United 13th (7 pts) |
| Last season | United won 2-1 at home and 1-0 at Stamford Bridge |
| Head-to-head (Chelsea's figures) | Chelsea 20 wins, United 21, draws 27 |
| Out for Chelsea | Reece James (knee surgery), Jamie Gittens |
| Doubts for United | Luke Shaw, Kobbie Mainoo, Benjamin Šeško |
Carrick's problem is the draws
United have not been beaten often. They've lost to Hull on the opening day and to City, and drawn the other four games apart from the 5-2 against Ipswich, when Fernandes scored a hat-trick. That's four draws in five, and two of them were rescued at the very end: Šeško in the 88th minute at Everton, Cunha in the 89th at Fulham. Bryan Mbeumo scored in the other two, against Spurs and at Leeds.
Mbeumo has four league goals and is the one forward Carrick can count on. The summer signings in midfield, Carlos Baleba from Brighton and Youri Tielemans from Villa, plus Santos, haven't yet turned that into control of games. Europe adds to the load: a 4-0 win over Sabah, then a 2-0 defeat away to Atlético Madrid.
There's a kinder reading. Carrick took over a worse situation in January and turned it round in a few months, and a team that keeps drawing is not far from winning. A first away league win of the season at the ground where they won in April would steady things quickly.
Andrey Santos is the subplot worth watching. Chelsea sold him to United in the summer for a reported £48m, and he goes back to Stamford Bridge in the other shirt barely three months later. Whether Carrick starts him next to Baleba or Tielemans, he knows the building better than anyone else in the away dressing room.
Chelsea have their own soft spot. They conceded three at home to Brighton and three at Brentford, and Reece James, who would normally steady the right side, is out after knee surgery. United's most dangerous spell in most games has come late, so a Chelsea side that's two up at the hour mark still can't relax.
ChelseaManchester UnitedHow to watch Chelsea vs Man United
In the UK the Premier League is shared between Sky Sports and TNT Sports, so check which of them has the early kick-off. US viewers have NBC Sports and Peacock, with kick-off at 08:30 ET (05:30 PT). Chelsea's match centre has the official details.
DAMITV has the game free, in HD, with nothing to sign up for. You'll find it on our Premier League streams page, on the Chelsea channel and on the Man United channel. Sunday's big one is in our Liverpool vs Arsenal preview.
I keep going back and forth on this Chelsea vs Man United game. Chelsea score freely at home, and United have conceded in every league game so far. They also have a habit of finding a late goal. I'll say Chelsea 2-1, with Palmer or Rogers the difference and Mbeumo scoring for United again.
