Chelsea trio ruled out of trip to Man Utd

Manchester United and Chelsea return to domestic action on Sunday as we go head-to-head at Old Trafford following our Champions League matches midweek.

Antonio Conte’s side were held 1-1 by Barcelona at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday whilst we were in action in the South of Spain 24 hours later, drawing 0-0 with Sevilla.

We will start the day in third place, three points above Chelsea following Liverpool’s win on Saturday. The Blues would be down to fifth should Tottenham Hotspur avoid defeat at Crystal Palace in tomorrow’s lunchtime kickoff.

Jose Mourinho has already confirmed that Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind, Marouane Fellaini, Ander Herrera and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are all absent for us for the visit of Chelsea. The Blues themselves will be without half as many players.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Friday, Antonio Conte confirmed that his side have no fresh injuries but that Tiemoue Bakayoko, David Luiz and Ross Barkley still remain sidelined.

Bakayoko has been a regular in the Chelsea midfield this season alongside N’Golo Kante, but his absence has been received as good news by many fans of the Blues who have not been impressed with last summer’s signing. In his place, playmaker Cesc Fabregas has been started in central midfielder of a 3-4-2-1 formation.

Centre-back David Luiz has fallen down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge this season after being a regular in their back three during last season’s title win. The Brazilian played 90 minutes in the Premier League at the start of the month for the first time since October, as Chelsea went down 4-1 at Watford nearly three weeks ago.

January signing Ross Barkley spent much of the first half of the season injured at Everton and has only played 54 minutes of Premier League action for his new club.