Man U vs Chelsea
Kick off: 6:30pm
Venue: Old Trafford
At the time of writing, Louis van Gaal will be in the Manchester United dugout when they play host to Chelsea at Old Trafford on Monday (today).
The 2-0 defeat to Stoke City on Boxing Day means that United are without a victory in their last seven outings in all competitions, yet despite intense speculation, Van Gaal remains in charge.
There is still some time left for the Red Devils to part company with their boss, but it is looking increasingly likely that any change in management at Old Trafford will occur after this encounter.
Reports last week claimed that Van Gaal would pay with his job were United to lose either of their festive double-header fixtures against Stoke and Chelsea, with the available Jose Mourinho believed to be readying himself to take charge.
With all of that in mind, the clash against the Blues is likely to be Van Gaal’s last chance to ensure that he will stay the manager of United as we head into 2016.
As far as confidence and form goes, Van Gaal’s men could not be in a much worse state. Only Southampton and bottom-placed Aston Villa have collected less points in the last six Premier League games, while the defeat at Stoke means that United have lost four competitive games in a row for the first time since 1961.
Defensively, things have been a little shaky of late, yet United can still boast the division’s joint-second best record in terms of goals conceded, shipping 16 times. It is up the other end of the pitch where the once free-scoring 20-time champions of England have had their main issues.
They average only 1.22 goals a game, which is their lowest return since the 1989-90 campaign.
Anthony Martial and Juan Mata sit top of United’s Premier League goalscoring charts with four strikes to their name, which is a paltry return when considering that six players have already reached double figures and the likes of Newcastle United’s Georginio Wijnaldum and Crystal Palace’s Yohan Cabaye – both midfielders – have found the net seven and five times respectively.
There is undoubtedly still plenty of work to be done, but in the two outings since Mourinho’s departure and the appointment of interim boss Guus Hiddink, there have been suggestions that Chelsea are going to move themselves up the table.
The post-Mourinho era got off to a winning start against Sunderland and while the 2-2 draw on Boxing Day with Watford at Stamford Bridge did highlight some of the frailties that remain, the Blues did at least appear to be more of an organised and enthusiastic unit under the returning Hiddink’s stewardship.
The main plus to come from that Watford game was the performance of Diego Costa, who seemed to sulk his way through the last few weeks of Mourinho’s tenure.
Not only did he score both of Chelsea’s goals, he made more sprints than any other player on the pitch.
But, in true Costa fashion, a wild sliding challenge on visiting defender Craig Cathcart earned the Spanish striker his fifth booking of the season and rendered him suspended for the trip to Manchester.
Despite having picked up four points from their last two outings, the West Londoners remain in a lowly 15th position and are just two points above the drop zone.
While bookmakers are still offering long odds of around 50-1 that the unlikely will actually happen and the champions are relegated, Hiddink’s immediate task is centred around getting the club out of the mire.
Unlike their hosts, the Blues may well be confident of picking up maximum points from this game.
They have won six games at Old Trafford since the Premier League’s inception in 1992 – more than other team.