Man Utd’s broken weapon meets Chelsea’s open door

Manchester United have plenty of weaknesses going to Stamford Bridge on Saturday, but Michael Carrick will still try to exploit Chelsea’s own weaknesses and come away with a positive result.

Earlier this week, Michael Carrick appeared on the brink, though Manchester United have decided to give him more time to turn results around. The Reds have won just one Premier League match in their last eight outings, and they’re already 15 points adrift of leaders Man City and Arsenal.

Chelsea have started the season much stronger than United, with Xabi Alonso earning plaudits since arriving at Stamford Bridge. That said, the Blues have experienced a dip in form of late. They struggled without Joao Pedro as they lost against a struggling Tottenham side last week.

Luckily for United, Pedro has been ruled out of the game on Saturday. Carrick will need maximum effort from his players as they look to exploit one of Chelsea’s main weaknesses this season.

Man Utd need to rediscover set-piece edge against vulnerable Chelsea

Like United, Chelsea have problems in defence. Alonso likes his team to play attractive football on the front foot, but they’ve been questionable defensively.

Chelsea have struggled to defend set pieces more than any other team in the top flight. United have been guilty of the same – against Hull City, Leeds and Bournemouth – but not to the same extent. Alonso’s side has conceded eight goals from set pieces in the Premier League this season. That is double the amount of any other side in the division.

This revelation comes with a double-edged sword for United because not only are United conceding goals from set pieces, but they’ve also gone from being one of the most prolific teams in the league to scoring only one so far this season. That came from Bruno Fernandes’ penalty kick in the 5-2 win over Ipswich Town two months ago.

There is some contrast from last season, when 19 of United’s goals in the Premier League came from set pieces. Only Arsenal had more, with 23, as they went on to win the league title. A lot of the set pieces came from Fernandes and were converted by Casemiro, who scored eight headed goals last season.

Without Casemiro, United are having less joy inside the opposition’s box, but Carrick has players who can contest in the air like Leny Yoro and Harry Maguire. There are other ways to get at Chelsea, but there’s a feeling United need to get back to basics to start winning football matches again.

It’s good news that Fernandes returns to the line-up this week. The Portuguese was left on the bench for the 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth after questioning Carrick’s tactics in an explosive post-match interview in the days leading up to the match. Without a recognised centre-forward in the squad, it makes sense to work on alternative tactics to score goals and win football matches.