Chelsea and Manchester United will face each other at Stamford Bridge on match day 37 of the 2024-25 Premier League season.
As of the time of writing, Chelsea are ranked 5th on the log with 63 points from 35 games, while Manchester United are 15th with 39 points from the same number of games.
Chelsea’s young squad have started to reach their expected heights after the club decided to bring in Enzo Maresca as Mauricio Pochettino’s replacement before the start of the season.
The former Leicester City boss has worked on his team to be competitive and they have posed a strong competition to some of the established teams in the division. With Maresca at the helm, the Blues have improved greatly and many even tipped them to mount a title challenge. However, after a great start, they are currently scrambling for a Champions League qualification.
Chelsea lost 2-0 to Manchester City at Stamford Bridge in their season opener before going ahead to beat Servette on aggregate to reach the UEFA Conference League group stages. Noni Madueke then notched a hat-trick against Wolves to help the Blues claim their first Premier League win of the season.
Maresca’s men won five of those games and drew the other two. A second Premier League loss of the season came when they travelled to Anfield to face Liverpool. As of the time of writing, they have one foot in the final of the Conference League, but they have been knocked out of the Carabao Cup, and the FA Cup.
Following their recent 3-1 win over champions Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, Maresca said the following about the win, and its importance.
“They are all going to be tough games but you have to go game-by-game. The reason why the coaching staff were so happy – and so were the fans – is because at this stage of the season, you need to win games.
‘For sure, today’s environment was the best environment of the season with our fans. This is what we need every game. They were fantastic, it was so good.’
On the need go reach the Champions League, Maresca said: ‘My feeling is that – and I have had this already for a long time from when you work with the players everyday – they are all on the same page and heading in the same direction, in terms of how we want to play but also in terms of creating the right culture. It is so important.’
At the time of writing, Chelsea are on a four-game winning streak in all competitions, and are strong contenders for a place in the Champions League for next season.
Meanwhile, it has been a rollercoaster campaign for the Red Devils, who suffered a slow start under former coach Erik Ten Hag before he was sacked at the start of November. Manchester United started the campaign with high hopes, especially after their FA Cup triumph over Manchester City at the end of last season. There were speculations that the new INEOS board, which took the reins of the club last season, would sack Ten Hag. But instead, they kept the faith and handed him a contract extension.
The former Premier League champions started the campaign on a high, picking up a hard-fought 1-0 win over Fulham. That win was not convincing enough, as the Cottagers exposed Manchester United a few times. But the Red Devils only managed to escape unscathed because of Fulham’s profligacy in front of goal.
Manchester United’s frailties were eventually exposed in their second game against a talented and well-tutored Brighton side. Then, in their third game of the season, they fell characteristically to Liverpool. It was not even a vintage Liverpool performance, but Manchester United still failed to eke out a decent result.
The Red Devils huffed and puffed, but they ended up with a goalless draw against Crystal Palace. Then, in the game that followed, they were torn apart by a rampant Tottenham Hotspur side, as they lost 3-0. Along the line, Manchester United went on to snatch a draw against Aston Villa and claimed a big 2-1 win over Brentford at Old Trafford.
In the next game, Manchester United lost 2-1 to West Ham at the London Stadium. That was the last straw that broke the camel’s back, as Ten Hag got the boot. As a result, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, who was brought in as Ten Hag’s assistant at first, then led the team to a draw against Chelsea and a 3-1 win over Leicester City.
Not long after, Ruben Amorim was named the new man in the dugout, and he took charge of his first game against Ipswich some weeks ago. And although it was a disappointing performance, Manchester United escaped with a draw. Since then, there have been ups and downs for Manchester United in the Premier League.
Meanwhile, the Red Devils have made great strides in Europe just like Chelsea, as they have reached the semis, where they are billed to face Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League. United have not won a Premier League game since beating Leicester City in mid-March.
Apart from the fact that Manchester United have a new manager and are at the bottom end of the table, not much has changed between the two clubs. Each and every time they have met in recent years have produced low-quality performance and stalemates. United have nothing to play for in the league, but it means something different to Chelsea, and playing at home gives them an advantage.
30 of the past 76 games between the two clubs have ended in a draw. It’s one more reason why another stalemate could be on the cards on Friday night.
Match tickets
This match at Stamford Bridge in London starts on Friday, 16th May 2025, at 20:00 GMT.
The 40,341-capacity stadium is the place for this clash between the Blues and the Red Devils.
Getting Chelsea v Manchester United tickets could take a lot of work given the standard of this game. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels.
Team news
Line-ups
Chelsea have missed players continuously this season. So, a couple of them might still be unavailable for this season’s penultimate league game. However, Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke, Nicholas Jackson, and the likes should be available.
Chelsea XI: Sanchez; Caicedo, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Lavia, Fernandez (c); Neto, Palmer, Madueke; Jackson.
Amorim has several of his players out injured. Joshua Zirkzee and Lisandro Martinez are out for the rest of the season, and Ayden Heaven remains sidelined. Amad Diallo and Matthijs de Ligt are also absentees, but could be back for this game.
Manchester United XI: Onana; Yoro, Maguire, Shaw; Mazraoui, Casemiro, Mainoo, Dorgu; Garnacho, Fernandes; Hojlund.
Prediction
Chelsea are unbeaten at home in the Premier League in 2025, and that could be a huge factor in this game. Three of the past five matches between Chelsea and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge have ended in draws. Meanwhile, it is important to get Chelsea tickets for this final Premier League home game of the season.
On the other hand, Manchester United and Amorim are probably not interested in the Premier League again, but they will be playing for pride in this one. Meanwhile, they are winless in their past four Premier League away games.
Given the importance of this game to the Blues, backing them to win is a good pick.
Chelsea 2-1 Manchester United
Main photo credit: IMAGO / Action Plus