Man United have won both their Premier League matches on the road this season, but there has not been a home win in domestic competitions at Old Trafford for four games.

Their two top-flight fixtures there have produced an aggregate score of 2-9. The regular Saturday evening slot has delivered mixed results for the Blues over the past 18 months. Last season, wins at Burnley and Watford were followed by three straight losses at Manchester City, Newcastle, and Sheffield United.

The 3-3 humdinger at the Hawthorns last month was Chelsea’s first 5.30 pm kick off the new season (though there is an argument the boys in Blue only started playing around an hour later, in the comeback).

Chelsea team news After Wednesday’s Champions League intriguing stalemate, Chelsea has managed three clean sheets this season, two of them with new signing Mendy in goal and three of the same back four. Other than the recovering Billy Gilmour, Frank Lampard has a virtually empty treatment room at Cobham and firepower to test a home defence that will be without first-choices Harry Maguire and Eric Bailly. As BT’s analyst Joe Cole observed after Tuesday’s 0-0, matters arising from the second half of the 3-3 draw with Southampton look to have been addressed, with greater defensive calmness, coherence, and togetherness, despite regular Sevilla pressure.

Perhaps Hakim Ziyech will see more action against former Ajax team-mate Donny van de Beek – Chelsea’s wizard midfielder was the Amsterdam club’s player of the year in each of the past three seasons. Thiago Silva likely to start while Gilmour will be free from injury soon