Key Stat
With a full compliment of players on the pitch, Chelsea are unbeaten against Manchester United in domestic competitions at Stamford Bridge since April 2002.
It was a regular quirk of football over many years that the Blues regularly took the points at Old Trafford, and vice-versa. Nowadays it seems it takes a red card or two to buck the trend. The Blues’ most recent 1-0 success at Old Trafford in 2012/13 was assisted by the dismissal of Man United’s Rafael, and the Red Devils won 3-2 at the Bridge the same season after Branislav Ivanovic and Fernando Torres were shown the tunnel by Mark Clattenburg.
When they beat the champions elect on home soil back in April, it was the Mancunians’ first success against the Blues in 13 games in all competitions. In fact United have lost 17 times to Chelsea in the Premier League era, more often than against any other opponent.
Against Roma we conceded in the opening minute for the first time since 1 December 2013, when Jay Rodriguez netted for Southampton. In response, let us hope for a repeat of this fixture last season, when
Pedro struck for the Blues after just 29 seconds. (See our We Have History section tomorrow for more.)
Weekend games after Champions League involvement have not always produced the desired results this season, despite all being at the Bridge. The previous three were a draw with Arsenal, a defeat by Manchester City, and a 4-2 win against Watford that looked in peril at 1-2 down.
However, after 64 games in charge Antonio Conte has 47 victories to his credit. Only Jose Mourinho in his first spell at the Bridge can match that 73 per cent win rate: another league-title-winner Carlo Ancelotti achieved 45 and Mourinho, second time around, 40.
Chelsea-Man United games have attracted huge crowds throughout the past 112 years since we first met. The 80,827 last month at Wembley for Tottenham v Liverpool was still short of the highest English league attendance set by Sunday’s visitors to the Bridge when they hosted Arsenal seven decades ago.
Second highest remains the Pensioners’ epic crowd of 82,905, recorded on 12 October 1935 and also against Arsenal, which stood as a record for over 12 years. Man United pipped it by a few hundred on 17 January 1948 in a game played at Maine Road (Old Trafford was still recovering from the actions of the Luftwaffe in the War), when 83,260 spectators were present.
Arguably, the most impressive of all was the Good Friday crowd of 67,000 that watched Division Two hopefuls Chelsea and Man United play out a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge way back in 1906.
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