The last time Enzo Maresca shared the surroundings of a professional football pitch with Ruud van Nistelrooy, less than 14,000 fans were watching on in Osasuna’s El Sadar stadium.
A fully packed Old Trafford will be the setting when the two former Malaga teammates face off on Sunday afternoon, as the Dutch coach continues his interim tenure at Manchester United with a visit from Chelsea in the Premier League.
While the old friends share a meaty embrace on the touchline, there will be little warmth between the two sets of players battling for a crucial top-flight victory. Here are the key flashpoints to focus on beyond the managerial reunion.
Stop Cole Palmer and you have a very good chance of stopping Chelsea. That, of course, is easier said than done.
Liverpool’s Curtis Jones snuffed out most of Palmer’s threat when the Blues were beaten at Anfield last month, and the duty of shackling the ephemeral midfielder could fall to Manuel Ugarte on Sunday.
The £42m summer arrival was afforded one Premier League start under Erik ten Hag, but anchored United’s midfield in the midweek Carabao Cup win over Leicester City. Palmer will likely pose a bit more threat than Bobby De Cordova-Reid.
Manchester United have never been able to turn away from their mercurial central playmaker, but Maresca has begun the process of fazing out Chelsea’s temperamental midfielder. “It is a matter of balance,” the Italian boss said to explain Enzo Fernandez’s continued absence from Chelsea’s Premier League XI. “I think in this moment, Romeo [Lavia] and Moi [Caicedo] give us physicality and strength in the middle.”
Bruno Fernandes had been enduring a season as frustrating as his near-namesake until Wednesday night’s 5-2 thrashing of Leicester City. United’s skipper spanked in his first two goals of the season in a cathartic contest.
Up against the impressively cohesive duo of Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, Fernandes will have a far tougher time finding space to roll his studs over the ball compared to his midweek stroll.
Two players at wildly different ends of the confidence spectrum. While Nicolas Jackson is toppling Didier Drogba’s scoring records at Chelsea, Matthijs de Ligt seems to have spent the entirety of his opening three months in England teetering on the edge of a tantrum.
The former Ajax, Juventus and Bayern Munich centre-back has been dropped for a 36-year-old Jonny Evans at times this season, struggling to adapt to the unique tempo of England’s top flight in a team which, admittedly, doesn’t afford him a great deal of protection.
Jackson will not allow De Ligt any respite. Always an energetic outlet, the Senegal striker has added some much-needed composure to his game. After converting just 18% of his shots last season – a lower rate than Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Cristian Romero – Jackson is finishing off 27% of his chances this term.
This is a battle Chelsea have lost for the last decade. Since Sir Alex Ferguson hung up his hairdryer in 2013, the imposing mystique of Old Trafford has lost a layer of lustre with each passing year of failure.
Newcastle, Bournemouth and West Bromwich Albion – to name just three – all ended painfully long waits for victory away to United over the last 11 years, but it has been nothing but nightmares at the Theatre of Dreams for Chelsea.
The Blues have failed to win all 11 trips to Manchester since Ferguson’s retirement, drawing six and losing five – including each of the previous two visits. Even in victory, favourable decisions have evaded Chelsea – the west London outfit have never been given a penalty at Old Trafford in the Premier League era.
