Maresca’s Chelsea look to end decade-long Old Trafford hoodoo against fragile United | OneFootball

Chelsea arrive at Old Trafford this weekend with the chance to turn Manchester United’s misery into their own reset.

Enzo Maresca’s side were humbled in Munich in midweek, undone by errors and Harry Kane’s clinical finishing.

Yet the Italian was keen to frame the 3-1 defeat as a lesson rather than a crisis, stressing that his players “can learn a lot and build something special” from competing at that level.

The task now is to translate those lessons into the Premier League. Chelsea remain unbeaten in domestic competition, with two wins and two draws, and only Liverpool and Arsenal have matched their attacking output.

But failing to see off Brentford before falling short in Europe has left supporters craving a statement performance.

Old Trafford may not look the easiest place to find it given Chelsea’s wretched record there. The Blues have not won a league match at United’s ground since May 2013, with a run of 12 visits yielding nothing more than frustration.

Yet if there was ever a moment to change the narrative, this is it.

Ruben Amorim’s United are a club on the slide. Beaten comprehensively by Manchester City last weekend, they are off to their worst start since the inaugural Premier League season and questions over the manager’s philosophy refuse to go away.

Reports of players losing faith add to the sense of a side struggling for direction.

Maresca was generous in his pre-match remarks, calling Amorim a “fantastic manager” and acknowledging the difficulty of playing United at home.

But he also highlighted the strain United are under, pointing out that “when you struggle, the next one is the one you want to win”. That desire could make United dangerous, yet it also piles pressure on an already fragile squad.

Chelsea’s own doubts, including fitness concerns over Cole Palmer and others after the midweek trip, will test Maresca’s options.

The manager remains calm, insisting he feels no added pressure despite the recent setbacks. His perspective is that every game carries the same demand: to win.

The subplot of sidelined figures like Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi adds a reminder of Chelsea’s ongoing squad management challenges. But the Italian downplayed their situation, noting such separations happen “in any club in the world”.

Ultimately, this fixture feels less about history and more about momentum. Chelsea may not have won at Old Trafford in over a decade, but United’s current state offers as good an opening as they could hope for.

If Maresca’s men truly want to show they are learning and evolving, then exploiting United’s fragility is the way to do it.