Chelsea face Premier League top-four hopefuls Manchester United tonight (Thursday) with the Blues able to put a massive dent in United's top-four hopes Christian Pulisic's late goal handed Chelsea a 1-0 win over West Ham United in their last Premier League outing, keeping Thomas Tuchel's side five points ahead of fourth place with a game in hand. A win against Man United on Thursday night will move the Blues one step closer to confirming a Champions League spot for next season.
United will see this clash with Chelsea as a must-win game, with defeat to the Blues potentially leaving United six points behind fourth-place having played two games more. Ahead of the game, Thomas Tuchel has been handed a boost in defence.
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After missing the West Ham game last weekend, Reece James and Antonio Rudiger could return to the Chelsea squad after returning to training this week. Ben Chilwell, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ross Barkley and Mateo Kovacic are confirmed absentees, whilst Andreas Christensen may be fit, despite being ill this week.
So, what line-up will Tuchel select? And, what could the final score be? We used FIFA 22 to get a score prediction for Manchester United vs Chelsea on Thursday evening and this is what happened...
Manchester United vs Chelsea score predicted by simulation
We used kick-off mode in FIFA 22, but didn't select a team to control, we then selected the teams and watched the match play out by itself, to give us a score prediction.
We predict that United could set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Lindelof, Telles; Matic, McTominay; Elanga, Fernandes, Rashford; Ronaldo.
We predict that Chelsea could set up in a 3-4-1-2 formation, with their line-up as follows: Mendy; James, Silva, Rudiger; Loftus-Cheek, Kante, Jorginho, Alonso; Mount; Havertz, Werner.
United started on top at Old Trafford, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford causing problems down the Chelsea left. Despite their dominance in the early stages, some poor defending from United saw Chelsea take an early lead.
As the ball approached Kai Havertz on the edge of the box, the German let the ball run through his legs as he turned towards goal, skipping past Raphael Varane and Diogo Dalot very easily. Havertz's original shot was saved by De Gea, but the ball bounced back to the feet of Havertz who quickly tucked his shot into an empty net.
The goal saw Chelsea enter the break with a one-goal lead, but Tuchel's side had Edouard Mendy to thank who made some fantastic saves in the opening 45 minutes. Not long after the break, United found the equaliser through Ronaldo.
A long ball from Diogo Dalot was latched onto by Ronaldo, who peeled off the shoulder of Thiago Silva, beating the high line. As Mendy charged out of his goal, Ronaldo drilled a shot across goal and into the bottom corner.
Chelsea found themselves having more shots towards the end of the game as they searched for a winner. They came closest five minutes from the end, but Mason Mount was well denied by David De Gea.
Some quick passing play saw Mount and Havertz work around a sea of red shirts on the edge of the box, allowing Mount a pocket of space to shoot. The Englishman fired a powerful effort towards the far corner, but De Gea sprung across the goal to push the effort wide.
FIFA 22 predicted final score: Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea
Here are the full-time match stats.
FIFA 22 predicts that after taking an early lead, Chelsea may struggle to hold out for three points against a spirited United side on Thursday, drawing 1-1 in the simulation. Both 'keepers made some excellent saves in what was a very close encounter.
What do you think the final score will be? Let us know in the comments!
