Neville and Scholes predict chaos when Man United take on Chelsea | OneFootball

Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat against Leeds on Monday has left them with work to do to secure qualification for next season’s Champions League.

Michael Carrick’s next assignment has therefore become an all-important one, with a trip to West London to face top-five rivals Chelsea now carrying extra significance, as the gap between the two sides is just seven points.

Should United taste defeat at Stamford Bridge, Liam Rosenior’s side will almost halve the deficit and fancy themselves to grab one of the top-five spots, which could be at the expense of United.

Thriller in the capital?

Harry Maguire‘s confirmed absence for the fixture has left Carrick with a defensive headache, after Lisandro Martinez’s controversial red card against Leeds earned him a three-match ban.

This leaves Aiden Heaven and Leny Yoro highly likely to partner at centre-back, with the latter of the young duo struggling for form after a poor individual showing on Monday night.

With this in mind, former United duo Gary Neville and Paul Scholes have forecast a chaotic 90 minutes that will end with the two sides sharing the spoils after a night of drama.

As reported by Yahoo!, speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, neither of the treble winners is confident of United leaving the capital with three points, and both agreed on a 3-3 draw when predicting the result.

Neville said, “I think I’m going to… What do you think, Scholsey, a draw? We think (a) draw.” with Scholes responding, “I’m not sure how they’re going to win. I think they’ll draw, though. Big scoring, 3-3.”

“We’re going to go for a draw. We’re going to go 3-3,” the former right-back concluded.

There was not much hope given by ex-United skipper Roy Keane either, who plumped for a 2-1 home win after discussion with Ian Wright. Keane has recently claimed he feels United will have “no problem” with finishing in the top five, but defeat at the Bridge will no doubt pile the pressure on Carrick’s men in the run-in.

Vital three points

It is difficult to suggest that United would settle for a draw, with the carrot of three points being a 10-point gap that would all but guarantee their ticket back to Europe’s top table.

However, given the number of games remaining (five after Saturday), a point would leave United as favourites to secure their spot, with Chelsea likely to drop further points between now and the end of May.

United, themselves, have some tough-looking fixtures to end the campaign but will fancy themselves to keep further than a two-game swing away from the Blues, which a draw would allow.

If United can leave London with all three points, Carrick will be a very happy man, with Champions League qualification the best chance of him securing the head coach role on a permanent basis.

Whatever the outcome, it is set to be a fascinating end to the campaign that has the potential to end with a smile after another turbulent term at the Theatre of Dreams.

Featured image by Shaun Botterill via Getty Images

online polls

The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social