The penultimate matchday of the 2020/21 Premier League takes place this midweek, with the race for the top-four going down to the wire. On Tuesday night, two of the teams at the centre of the battle for the UEFA Champions League spots will take on each other when Chelsea host Leicester City at Stamford Bridge.
Liverpool will also travel to Turf Moor to take on Burnley on Wednesday as they aim to make it four wins on the bounce and get one step closer to Champions League qualification.
Manchester United have taken positive steps towards establishing themselves as proper contenders for the Premier League title. They might be falling well short of neighbours and newly-crowned champions Manchester City, but the signs of improvement are clear. The Red Devils, though, come into this game on the back of successive home defeats this past week.
Fulham, on the other hand, have been one of the more resilient teams in the Premier League this season. At the same time, though, the Cottagers have been extremely goal-shy for the most part, which has, in turn, contributed to their relegation back to the Championship. Scott Parker & co. have also been in a bit of a rut lately, with their last win coming back in early March.
The reverse fixture, played at Craven Cottage back in January, saw Manchester United come from a goal down to beat Fulham 2-1.
Harry Maguire remains absent with an ankle injury as he races to be fit for the Europa League final, while Anthony Martial and Phil Jones are also ruled out and Daniel James is doubtful.
Antonee Robinson, Terence Kongolo and Tom Cairney are all sidelined, although Mario Lemina should return after being ineligible to face parent club Southampton last time out.
Manchester United have won 18 of their last 22 Premier League meetings with Fulham (D2 L2), and are unbeaten in their last 12 against them in the competition (W10 D2).
Fulham have picked up just four points from 42 available in Premier League away games against Manchester United (W1 D1 L12), winning 3-1 in October 2003 and drawing 2-2 in February 2014.
Man Utd’s Paul Pogba has scored in both of his Premier League games against Fulham (3 goals in total), including the winner at Craven Cottage in the reverse fixture.
Man Utd forward Marcus Rashford’s next goal will be his 100th in his senior career for club and country (88 for Manchester United, 11 for England). 50 of his 99 strikes so far have come at Old Trafford.
Manchester United have lost their last two Premier League home games - they’ve not lost three consecutive league games at Old Trafford since February 1979.
Chelsea are currently fourth in the league table, just a point clear of Liverpool in fifth, with the Reds closing the gap following a dramatic 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. The Blues, meanwhile, head into Tuesday’s game on the back of consecutive 1-0 defeats to Arsenal in the league and Leicester City in the finals of the FA Cup. But given how resilient they have been under Thomas Tuchel, a strong reaction is expected.
Leicester, meanwhile, have allowed Chelsea to close down the gap to them to just two points after being well clear in the third place at point. The draw to Southampton and the loss to Newcastle United hurt their chances but Brendan Rodgers’ had a huge last week as they first defeated Manchester United at Old Trafford before winning their first-ever FA Cup at the weekend. So, the confidence will undoubtedly be high in the Foxes’ camp.
The reverse fixture played in January earlier this year saw Leicester beat Chelsea 2-0 while they once again emerged triumphant in their most recent meeting in the FA Cup this past weekend.
Tuchel confirmed that Kovacic is available for the FA Cup final but he did not make the squad. Thus there are doubts whether the Croatian along with Andreas Christensen will be available for the game or not.
Chelsea Predicted Line Up: Mendy; James, Zouma, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Kante, Kovacic, Chilwell; Mount, Havertz, Pulisic.
Jonny Evans is ruled for the game after he injured in the FA Cup final and subsequently substituted. He is joined by Harvey Barnes and James Justin both of them have been ruled out for the rest of the season.
Leicester City Predicted Line Up: Schmeichel; Castagne, Fofana, Soyuncu; Albrighton, Tielemans, Ndidi, Thomas; Perez, Maddison; Vardy.
Chelsea are winless in their last six Premier League meetings with Leicester (D4 L2), having won nine of their previous 11 against them in the competition (D1 L1).
Between them, Manchester United (13), Chelsea (5) and Manchester City (5) have won 79% of the Premier League titles (23/29). Leicester have already won at both Manchester clubs this season and could be just the second team to win away at all three in a single Premier League campaign after Liverpool in 2008-09.
Chelsea haven’t lost their final home league game in any of the last 18 seasons (W12 D6), since losing 3-1 against Aston Villa in the 2001-02 campaign.
Chelsea have won just two of their seven midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) Premier League games this season (D2 L3), failing to score in four of those games.
Leicester City
Most clean sheets in the Premier League this season:
Ederson - 18
Edouard Mendy - 16
Emi Martinez - 15
Hugo Lloris - 12
Kasper Schmeichel (+2 others) - 11