The last time Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho faced his former side, Chelsea, it did not end well. The clash happened in October that saw the Blues run rampant and thrashed the Red Devils to pieces, ending the match 4-0 with Pedro Eliezer Rodríguez Ledesma, “known as Pedro” 29th-second goal opening the floodgates for his side.
Antonio Conte’s side have taken to their own website reminding the world of that result with a sly dig at the Red Devils in the club’s preview of the match.
“Monday’s cup opponents are enjoying a long unbeaten run in the league stretching back to October.
“It has lifted them all the way from sixth to sixth. That last defeat was, of course, the one they endured at the Bridge,” the article read.
The former Barcelona winger’s 29.6 seconds goal against United in October remains the fastest goal in the Premier League this campaign.
While it is true that the defeat inflicted on Mourinho’s team will be savoured for a long time, especially given the United boss rather hypocritical reproach of Conte’s celebrations during the match, the Red Devils have since progressed from there.
The article rightly mentioned that Mourinho’s side remains unbeaten since their defeat against Chelsea, but they have also greatly improved their performance since then. United squad are functioning well as a unit and although results have been mixed, there is no doubt that their line up on Monday will be a different proposition to the one so humbled in the league six months ago. Here is why United may have the edge.
So, why do we think the Red Devils will win Chelsea, the reasons are below:
1. Jose Mourinho
Much of everything good about Manchester United presently is all about Jose Mourinho, while in the same way, much of all things bad is/will be about the Portuguese boss. The former Chelsea manager is a cup specialist and has already guided this Red Devils team to EFL Cup success this season. That good result may come in handy when he takes on his former side again.
Blues manager Antonio Conte might still haven’t got use to the cup teams in England. His side lose out in the EFL Cup and have been fortunate to play much smaller teams until now. The duo managers have promised full strength teams on Monday but this may come down to the smallest details and here, Mourinho has the advantage of winning at Stamford Bridge today.