There is not much to critique Graham Potter on since he replaced Thomas Tuchel in the Chelsea dugout in early September. The new board’s decision to get rid of the Champions League-winning manager angered some of the club’s fanbase initially, but the performances under the Englishman will have already made the German a distant memory.
The Blues were held to a 1-1 draw by RB Salzburg in Potters’ first match in charge, conceding late to the Austrian side as they shared the spoils at Stamford Bridge in what was the 47-year-old’s first ever taste of Champions League football. But that was just days in to his reign and the players seem to now be buying in to his philosophy and tactics.
Admittedly, Chelsea did scrape past Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in his maiden Premier League tie — with Conor Gallagher securing a 2-1 win over his former side with a peach from outside the box. But it has more-or-less been plain sailing since, beating Italian giants AC Milan home and away in the Champions League while cruising past Wolverhampton Wanderers with a 3-0 victory at the Bridge and a 2-0 win at Aston Villa.
Indeed, beating defending Serie A champions Milan is not to be sniffed at — especially as the recent 2-0 win out in Italy was the first time Chelsea have ever beaten AC or their counterpart Inter at the iconic San Siro — the upcoming Premier League encounter against Manchester United will be Potter’s first real test as Chelsea manager — even if the Blues are the favourites in the Chelsea v Man Utd betting.
Erik ten Hag’s side have turned around their fortunes since the slow start to the season that saw them beaten by Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford in the first two gameweeks, with an inevitable 6-3 defeat away to Manchester City the only blemish on their record since as they have claimed up fifth in the table at the time of writing.
The most impressive of the Red Devils’ five wins in their last seven games have come against their big six rivals Liverpool and Arsenal. You could argue that the win over the former is overshadowed by Jürgen Klopp’s dire form, but there are no excuses for the victory over Arsenal at Old Trafford.
Mikel Arteta’s men have been the in-form side so far this season and the defeat in Manchester is the only blemish on their otherwise perfect record that leaves them top of the table by a point at the time of writing. So, that has to be a win that Ten Hag is very proud of.
A victory over Tottenham Hotspur midweek would be a third win from four games against the big six and Manchester United would be well up for the trip to Stamford Bridge in order to make it a clean sweep over their top rivals — Manchester City excluded, of course.
There has been very little to separate these two sides in recent years though. In fact, their last four Premier League meetings have ended in ties and it would perhaps be no surprise to see no winner again on Sunday in a game that could resemble a chess match.
If Potter is to get all three points against the Red Devils, then it would be another massive moment at this stage in his Chelsea career. Despite all their poor form over the last however many years, the Blues haven’t beaten Manchester United in the league since November 2017 — when Álvaro Morata’s strike was the difference in a narrow 1-0 win.
Nine league encounters have taken place since, with six ending in draws. More worryingly, however, Chelsea have managed to score just six times compared to Manchester United’s 11. It’s down to Potter to find a winning formula that can break this bad run of form against the sides — another reason why this is the first real test of his ability as an elite manager.
