Enzo Maresca: Erik ten Hag sacking makes Manchester United a tougher opponent for Chelsea

Enzo Maresca insists Old Trafford has not lost its intimidation factor, despite Manchester United’s decline - and warned his Chelsea team they face a tougher task to win there this weekend now Erik ten Hag has been sacked.

Maresca takes his fifth-placed side to Manchester on Sunday looking to continue their fine start to the Premier League season, with the sole defeats under the Italian coming against Man City and Liverpool.

United, by contrast, are languishing in 14th, but the complexion of this weekend’s meeting has changed after Ten Hag was relieved of his duties earlier this week.

On Friday, United confirmed the appointment of Sporting boss Ruben Amorim, but the Portuguese will not take charge until the international break later this month, leaving Ruud van Nistelrooy in the dugout as interim on Sunday.

Van Nistelrooy led United to a morale-boosting 5-2 victory over Leicester in the Carabao Cup in midweek. That result, coupled with Amorim’s imminent arrival, has lifted the mood in Manchester and asked whether Chelsea a more difficult challenge than looked likely a week ago, Maresca said: “Yes, for sure.”

“When you change manager, always for the first one, two, three games, you can see the reaction from the players,” he added. “So, probably it will be [tougher]. But in any case it will be a tough game.”

Chelsea have not won a Premier League game at Old Trafford in more than a decade, since a 1-0 win in May 2013, when Sir Alex Ferguson was still in charge of the home side.

However, United’s home form suffered badly under Ten Hag. Last season, the club lost nine home matches across competitions, their worst record in 50 years, and they have already lost twice in four league matches this term, against Liverpool and Tottenham.

Maresca, though, believes Old Trafford remains one of the country’s most difficult grounds to visit, even if he is backing his Chelsea squad to come through the test.

"For sure, Old Trafford is one of the stadiums in the world that is ‘nice’ in terms of intimidation,” he said. “Like Anfield, it’s the same. Or in Italy, the San Siro years ago, or in Spain, Barcelona and Madrid. They are stadiums that are nice for intimidating.

“But I think also, we played a few weeks ago at Anfield and the performance was there and I don’t think the players feel that kind of intimidation so hopefully it can be the same on Sunday.”