For one of football’s iconic fixtures, third-placed Chelsea take on Manchester United, who are sixth, at Old Trafford. Most seasons between 2004 and 2013 this was a title decider but tonight’s contestants are, sadly, some way off that status.

This evening’s fixture, Chelsea’s 57th game of the season and Man United’s 46th, was brought forward because of the Londoners’ participation in the FA Cup final. The Thursday setting makes the Red Devils the first Premier League opposition the Blues have faced on each of the seven days of the week.

Since Chelsea’s 3-1 FA Cup semi-final victory at Wembley in 2020 the pair have drawn three successive Premier League meetings, two of them 0-0s. Victory tonight would ensure the Londoners finish above the Mancunians in the table for the first time since 2018/19, when this fixture, played on the same date, ended 1-1.

Chelsea, aiming to extend a club-record run of eight straight wins across all competitions on our travels, face consecutive away trips to either end of the Manchester Ship Canal. Coincidentally, Thomas Tuchel’s men have the second-best record for away points behind United’s rivals Man City, and goals scored on hostile soil after Everton’s foes, Liverpool.

The Blues have not secured all three points in this corner of Manchester in eight attempts, although five were drawn, and against all comers the Red Devils are unbeaten in seven at Old Trafford. That said, the current average of 1.82 points per home game is Man United’s worst throughout the Premier League era in all but three seasons.

Tuchel’s team are 10 points better off than at the same stage last season. Victory tonight would open an eight-point gap ahead of Arsenal in fourth and close the door to next season’s Champions League on the Old Trafford club.

Chelsea team news

‘We arrive to win,’ Thomas Tuchel told reporters yesterday, a target Chelsea have not hit at Old Trafford since a late Juan Mata winner in 2013. The Blues are in fine fettle on our travels, though, scoring two goals or more in each of the past three away matches.

It will be the Bavarian’s first experience of the Man United stadium with Chelsea, but he has a 100 per cent record there with previous club PSG. His side also arrive in the North-West on the back of a crucial win against West Ham at the Bridge and an improved second-half performance.

Three late substitutions helped: match-winner Christian Pulisic (with his fifth in the top flight this season), Hakim Ziyech, urgent and mobile, and a battling Romelu Lukaku rolling his defender to earn Jorginho’s missed penalty. That was the Italy midfielder’s first club miss since Boxing Day 2020 – but he delivered from the spot against Man United at the Bridge.Toni Rudiger and Reece James are restored to the squad. Trevoh Chalobah, who recorded 96 per cent passing accuracy against the Hammers, may retain the right centre-back role. Ruben Loftus-Cheek could return from wing-back to a midfield role as Mateo Kovacic is still sidelined. At his best, the 26-year-old can drive through the lines to create openings and panic in an opposition rearguard.

Other key figures could be our widemen, especially if Pulisic is starting one of his familiar run-in sprees. Mason Mount has delivered five goals and five assists from 14 away performances in the Premier League this season, while Timo Werner has scored twice and set up two more in his past two outings on opposition soil.

Rangnick’s reduced options

Interim Man United coach Ralf Rangnick is in the unusual position of having his successor already announced. With Erik ten Hag taking over this summer, the incumbent has responded to three defeats in four league games and a rash of injuries by adding four academy players to his squad, Ajax-style.

After the only win in that sequence, against Norwich, the German said he had urged his players to be more physical and aggressive, ‘but we weren’t, and it’s too easy’. Like Chelsea, Man United have been gifting opponents goals through individual errors, but also by not snuffing out danger, especially on crosses from wide areas.

They are also running short of selection options. As well as the suspended Mason Greenwood, the German will be without defenders Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw, midfielders Fred and Paul Pogba, plus forwards Edinson Cavani and Jadon Sancho. Right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka is also a doubt. Scott McTominay, though, returned to midfield at Arsenal, anchoring an attack-minded midfield between Bruno Fernandes and Jesse Lingard.

Although Fernandes (playing a virtually free role), missed the vital spot-kick equaliser, Cristiano Ronaldo netted his 100th Premier League goal. The 37-year-old has scored a hat-trick in each of his last two Premier League home games amplifying the importance of the Portuguese pair, responsible for 25 of their league tally of 52.

Just six of the Mancunians’ top-flight goals have come from headers (Chelsea have 11) and only three teams have scored fewer from set-plays this season: Tottenham, Watford and Norwich. At the same time, United have conceded at least one goal in 13 of their 17 home games and lost four of the six in which they have trailed.

The race for places

Chelsea’s weekend win virtually extinguished West Ham’s hopes of Champions League qualification through the top four. Points dropped by Manchester United and Tottenham also handed Arsenal the initiative.

Any outcome of the north London derby in two weeks’ time will leave one of the teams with a maximum of 72 points left available, so the Blues (boasting a far superior goal difference) effectively need a further 10 points from the 18 available to be sure of third, and seven to seal top four.

Wembley double weekend

Tickets for the second half of Chelsea’s twin FA Cup final appearances on Sunday 15 May, in which Emma Hayes’ Chelsea Women side take on Manchester City, are available to buy, priced £20, £10/£2.50 concessions here