Five BIG questions ahead of Chelsea v Manchester United

1) Will Mourinho sense Chelsea’s vulnerability and open up more?

Manchester United will most likely be eight points behind Manchester City by the time they kick off at Stamford Bridge, which means the defence-first tactical approach utilised in the 0-0 draw at Anfield simply won’t be good enough.

Jose Mourinho cannot afford to play for the draw, and he can’t afford to wait for Antonio Conte to shift things around in the final 20 minutes; the Italian, under pressure of late, will be happy to collect a point.

Chelsea’s calamitous midweek performance against Roma makes them vulnerable; vulnerable to United’s speed on the left flank, to the crossing ability of their overlapping wing-backs, and to Romelu Lukaku’s poacher’s instinct in the penalty area.

However, none of these attributes will hurt the hosts unless Mourinho gives his players creative freedom, gambling on defeat in order to snatch what would be a symbolically significant three points.

Mourinho will most likely field a back three and two strikers, as he did against Tottenham Hotspur, but we will only learn his battle plan when the line-ups are out. If the Portuguese is too conservative in his choices then this match could end in another drab draw, seriously denting United’s title hopes.

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2) How does Conte stop Herrera man-marking Hazard out of the game once again?

Mourinho likes to go man-to-man for big games such as these, which means he will match Chelsea’s formation and look to isolate their attacking players – just as he did in United’s 2-0 win against Chelsea at Old Trafford in April. Ander Herrera will follow Eden Hazard around the pitch in the hope of mimicking the tactical pattern of that day, in which Hazard completed just one key pass and zero dribbles.

The Belgian’s positional play wasn’t intelligent enough at Old Trafford, and presumably Conte will have been showing him videos this week in order to improve on that display. Hazard remained central, allowing Herrera to stay roughly in a central midfield position while shepherding Chelsea’s playmaker into the most overcrowded area of the pitch.

This time, Hazard must drift into the channels as often as possible, forcing Herrera to make a difficult choice. Either he lets Hazard go, and thus risk him dominating the game, or he follows him out of midfield, which would open up space centrally for the likes of Fabregas to dominate.

3) Can Young, cutting inside, find space in Fabregas’s zone?

This match will most likely be claustrophobic, with space compressed well by both sets of teams, and consequently the slightest chink in either side’s armour must be seized upon. For Chelsea, this is their ability to defend crosses whipped into the back post; the wing-backs and centre-backs sometimes leave a gap between them that opposition forwards can back-peddle into.

Ashley Young, who attempts more crosses than any other United player (4.7 per game), could be the key from left wing-back. Davide Zappacosta is struggling to adapt to Premier League life and might be distracted by Marcus Rashford’s movement into the left channel, which would leave Young free to cut onto his right foot when United are on the attack.

There is little chance Pedro will track back and prevent this from happening, while Cesc Fabregas is famously undisciplined when it comes to defensive positioning. He might be the one player to leave a gap on the centre-right, which is precisely the position from which Young likes to curl crosses into the box.

N’Golo Kante might be back from injury in time, which would allow Conte to patch up this gap, but nevertheless Young’s balls to the back post will be threatening.

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4) Who will come out on top in Valencia’s battle with Alonso?

When two teams play with three at the back it can often become very stodgy in the middle, meaning the wing-backs become the most important players on the pitch. Antonio Valencia is the best full-back in the country and his direct opponent this weekend, Marcus Alonso, is one of several Chelsea defenders who looks a little lost.

It would not be surprising to see Alonso pegged back in his own half by Valencia’s marauding runs forward, although potentially Hazard could force Valencia to leave the Spaniard alone. If Mourinho is cautious in his approach then it will be a back five – and a lifeless match for United fans. But if he does indeed embrace a braver tactical approach then this is an area his team could find joy, particularly if the struggling Antonio Rudiger is once again charged with covering behind Alonso.

5) Can Morata make the most of United’s weakness in the air?

Alvaro Morata, on a run of five games without a goal, could play a major role in this match should United struggle to defend Chelsea’s crosses into the box. Mourinho’s side have kept clean sheets in eight of their ten league games so far this season but can occasionally look vulnerable from set pieces or early, floated crosses into the area.

Stoke City scored twice from crosses into the box against United in September, and since then they haven’t been tested with another big and powerful centre-forward. Morata’s superb aerial ability – he has scored three headers in the league this season, more than nine Premier League clubs – could cause problems for Chris Smalling, who might be feeling low following his omission from the England squad on Thursday.