Written By: Kevin Mac, , Match Preview

THE wheels have come off the Ole Gunnar Solksjaer bandwagon since he landed the Manchester United job on a permanent basis.

Ole may be at the wheel but there's now a danger he's driving the bus off a cliff after a horror run of seven defeats in their last nine games.

The latest came in the midweek Manchester derby and although United showed much more fight than they had in the 4-0 thrashing by Everton, even Solksjaer admitted his side were lagging well behind champions City.

Two successive defeats should have ended United's hopes of claiming a Champions League place but their rivals have also slipped up, meaning a win here against Chelsea could reignite hopes of a top-four finish.

It's the Blues who currently occupy fourth place but they are only three points ahead of sixth-placed United after being held to a 2-2 draw at home by Burnley in midweek.

Arsenal could have jumped above their London rivals with a win at Wolves but also slipped up, crashing to a 3-1 loss that kept them a point behind Chelsea.

Solskjaer's side remain outsiders in the race for fourth but they finish with games against Huddersfield and Cardiff so three successive wins could be enough to snare that Champions League slot.

However, it will be far from easy against a Blues side who have lost just once in their last seven outings – and that was to a rampant Liverpool side at Anfield.

It ended 2-2 when these sides faced off at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season, with a late Ross Barkley leveller sparking a touchline rammy between Jose Mourinho and one of the Chelsea coaches. 

I wouldn't be surprised to see it end in another stalemate, even though a point suits neither side, and the draw is available at 5/2 with Bet365.

Solskjaer went with three at the back for the derby but will probably revert to a back four here and add another forward to support Marcus Rashford. That could mean a start for Romelu Lukaku and I fancy the Belgian to net against his former club. He's 6/1 with Boylesports to break the deadlock and 37/20 with Unibet to net at any time.

Midfielder Fred had another poor game in the derby and, if I was Solskjaer, I'd make sure he returned to his previous role as the club mascot. Scott McTominay could start ahead of him here and I like the look of the Scotland kid to pick up a yellow card at 10/3 with William Hill.

Both teams should score, especially with David De Gea in such poor form for United, but it's a best 9/13 with Sport Nation. Instead, try backing the second half to be the highest-scoring half at 113/100 with Marathonbet.

It's hard to pick a Chelsea scorer, given Maurizio Sarri has often left out a striker and played Eden Hazard as a false nine in games against top teams. But winger Pedro should start and the former Barcelona star looks a good price at 57/17 with Sport Nation for anytime scorer.

This match between Manchester United and Chelsea will be played on Apr 28, 2019 and kick off at 16:30. Check below for our tipsters best Manchester United vs Chelsea prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.

Betting Tips and Predicitions
Draw
5/2
Scott McTominay yellow card
10/3
William Hill
Romelu Lukaku anytime scorer
37/20
UniBet

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