Ruben Amorim has a number of selection decisions to make as Manchester United prepare to face Chelsea

Enzo Maresca doesn’t have the best relationship with Chelsea supporters but they could secure UEFA Champions League qualification this season as they now take on Manchester United.

Last weekend, Chelsea went to fellow top five challengers Newcastle United and suffered a 2-0 loss to the Magpies at St James’ Park. Sandro Tonali opened the scoring very early before Nicolas Jackson was then sent off in the first-half. Bruno Guimaraes sealed the win late on.

The Blues had just moved into the final of the UEFA Europa Conference League a few days before that with a 5-1 aggregate victory over Djurgarden. They face Real Betis in the final in a couple of weeks as they now fully focus on UEFA Champions League qualification.

Much like Chelsea, Manchester United also have a European final to look forward to with the Red Devils preparing for the UEFA Europa League final against Tottenham Hotspur at San Mames in Bilbao next week but it should not distract from just how poor they have been.

In the Premier League, Manchester United could genuinely and potentially even most realistically finish 17th. They suffered a 2-0 defeat to West Ham United at Old Trafford at the weekend to mean they have now collected two points from their last seven matches.

Ahead of the visit of Manchester United to Stamford Bridge, Chelsea are without Senegal international striker Nicolas Jackson due to suspension and winger Jadon Sancho is unavailable as a result of being ineligible to play against his parent club. Marc Guiu is back in training but remains sidelined for the Blues.

Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; James, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Lavia; Palmer, Fernandez, Madueke; Neto.

Unavailable: Anselmino (Injured), Fofana (Injured), Kellyman (Injured), Nkunku (Injured), Sancho (Ineligible), Mudryk (Disciplinary), Jackson (Suspended), Guiu (Fitness).

In his pre-match press conference, Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has confirmed that the UEFA Europa League will not overly influence his line-up this week. Both Jonny Evans and Toby Collyer returned to training earlier this week but the likes of Matthijs de Ligt, Leny Yoro, Ayden Heaven and Diogo Dalot seemingly remain sidelined.

Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Bayindir; Mazraoui, Lindelof, Shaw; Diallo, Ugarte, Fernandes, Amass; Mainoo, Mount; Hojlund.

Unavailable: De Ligt (Injured), Heaven (Injured), Martinez (Injured), Yoro (Injured), Dalot (Injured), Zirkzee (Injured).