Chelsea vs Man Utd team news with two doubts, seven ruled out & defender expected to return

Manchester United are expected to name the same starting line-up against Chelsea as the one which began the midweek win over Tottenham Hotspur.

The Red Devils won 2-0 on Wednesday thanks to goals from Fred and Bruno Fernandes, in what was undoubtedly the best performance so far of the Erik ten Hag era at Old Trafford. It’s why he’s unlikely to make many changes for the trip to Stamford Bridge this weekend.

But the former Ajax manager is still expected to be without four players for the clash with Chelsea. Ten Hag said during the week that Antony Martial is yet to return to team training and therefore is a major doubt for the Chelsea game.

The striker has missed the last three with a back injury he sustained in the recent 2-1 win away to Everton and in his absence Marcus Rashford is expected to start up front, especially with Cristiano Ronaldo set to miss out after his touchine demeanour on Wednesday night when he stormed from the dugout to the dressing room.

In a statement on Thursday United said: “Cristiano Ronaldo will not be part of the Manchester United squad for this Saturday’s Premier League game against Chelsea.”

Elsewhere, Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan Bissaka and Donny van de Beek are all nearing a return but unlikely to be in the squad this weekend. "They are making good progress, all, and they will all return in team training this week,” the United manager said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Chelsea are set to be without Reece James and N’Golo Kante for the foreseeable future. The latter underwent surgery earlier this week on a hamstring injury, while James’ knee problem could rule him out of the World Cup.

Wesley Fofana is also suffering from a knee injury and won’t play on Saturday, while Conor Gallagher is a doubt. The midfielder was taken off after 15 minutes during Chelsea’s midweek draw with Brentford due to illness.

Thiago Silva was an unused substitute in that game with Graham Potter saying they need to ‘manage’ the 38-year-old correctly, although he should be able to start against United at Stamford Bridge.

Doubts: Gallagher (Chelsea), Martial (United)

Ruled out: Fofana (Chelsea), James (Chelsea), Kante (Chelsea),  Maguire (United), Wan-Bissaka (United), Van de Beek (United), Ronaldo (United)