Twenty-time English Premier champion Manchester United will take on Chelsea at the Old Trafford stadium on August 11. The Red Devils had a good pre-season campaign and they will look forward to starting the tournament with a win. Chelsea also had an unbeaten pre-season campaign and are raring to go on the field.
PREVIEW, PREDICTION AND SCHEDULE
Manchester United finished in the sixth spot last season. They had a pretty mediocre season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and saw manager Jose Mourinho been removed and replaced. The Norwegian coach had a dream start as the caretaker coach but when he was made the permanent coach United got a reality check.
After last year's below-par performance, United fans hope to see some major signings this season. The Red Devils signed Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James. They even sold Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan without getting any replacement, which leaves the United attacking line in complete disarray.
There is no depth in the mid-field of United as they have a not-so enthusiastic Paul Pogba and an off-colour Alexis Sanchez. It will be a miracle if United finishes in the top-three this season as they do not have the team or bench strength.
On the other hand, defending Europa League champions Chelsea finished third on the league table last season. The Blues had been quite unpredictable as they lacked consistency last season. With a transfer ban on their head, they could not add any players to their squad this season but lost Eden Hazard to Real Madrid.
Frank Lampard, who is the current manager of the squad, will look forward to a good outing in his first season as a coach of former club Chelsea. The Blues also lost David Luiz to Arsenal but are pretty confident about having a good start to their season after a brilliant pre-season campaign.
The Red Devils are the favourite to win the match as they have home advantage and been in good form. But Chelsea are also up to the mark and will be hard to beat. High chances of a goalless draw are there as both teams will not risk it unnecessarily in the first match of the marathon league.
The Manchester United-Chelsea fixture will start at 3.30 PM local time and 9 PM according to IST.
Other fixtures on day 3:
Leicester City vs Wolves will start at 1 PM local time and 6.30 PM IST.
Newcastle vs Arsenal will start at 1 PM local time and 6.30 PM IST.
Where to watch and live streaming in India:
The broadcasting rights of the EPL are with the Star group in India. The matches will be broadcasted on Star Sports Select 1 and Star Sports Select HD. Live streaming can be accessed in India on Hotstar app.
