Few teams have successfully found a way to stop European champion and Premier League leader Chelsea this year. That’s the task facing an undermanned Manchester United team heading to Stamford Bridge under an interim manager and with only one win in its last seven league matches.
The Red Devils, in 10th place and 12 points behind Chelsea, will attempt the feat without several starters with the likes of Paul Pogba, Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane unavailable. And in late lineup news, Cristiano Ronaldo will start on the bench. Man United will be happy to come away from London with a draw as it attempts to work its way back up the table and fight for a top-four finish and Champions League qualification.
Meanwhile, Chelsea is riding high on the heels of a 4-0 Champions League win against Juventus in midweek and with star striker Romelu Lukaku back available off the bench. Chelsea is deep, and Timo Werner will get the start as the center forward; American attacker Christian Pulisic will be available off the bench.
MORE: How Man United beat Villarreal in the Champions League
Sporting News will be following the match live and providing score updates, commentary and highlights as they happen.
Chelsea vs. Manchester United live score
| 1H | 2H | Final | |
| Chelsea | 0 | 1 | — |
| Manchester United | 0 | 1 | — |
Goals:
MANU – Jadon Sancho – 50th min.
CHE – Jorginho (penalty) – 69th min.
(All times Eastern)
69th min.: Jorginho makes up for his previous error and puts it away. It’s 1-1.
67th min.: Chelsea penalty! Aaron Wan-Bissaka kicks out to clear a ball in his box, but he gets Thiago Silva and it’s a penalty. Referee Anthony Taylor points to the spot. The VAR won’t be overturning this.
63rd min.: SUB – After the latest Chelsea corner kick goes out of play, Man United brings on Cristiano Ronaldo for Jadon Sancho with 26 minutes to go.
58th min.: Poor effort from Timo Werner after a corner kick bounces to a wide-open Werner. He misfires. And that happened after Man United nearly sprung another successful counter.
53rd min.: Yellow to Reece James for taking down Marcus Rashford. Chelsea is needing to regroup after that blow. The goal was Jadon Sancho’s first in the Premier League and it came just days after his first goal for the club in the Champions League.
50th min.: Goal Jadon Sancho! Jorginho all alone at midfield, fails to control a clearance of the Chelsea set piece, and Jadon Sancho steals it and takes it all the way. It was a 2-on-0 break. Man United takes advantage of a gift by Jorginho.
49th min.: Yellow card to Marcus Rashford for chopping down Trevor Chalobah. Dangerous Chelsea set piece coming up.
46th min.: Second half underway. No subs.
Cristiano Ronaldo out warming up on his own at the start of the 2nd half. Suggests he will come on soon. #CFC 0-0 #MUFC #CHEMUN
— Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) November 28, 2021
Halftime: Chelsea 0, Man United 0
Halftime: Chelsea is clearly the better team, but it’s been a decent effort from the Red Devils who are chasing and tracking the Chelsea players best they can. And when they’ve failed, goalkeeper David De Gea has come up with big stops. The Antonio Rudiger crossbar is the best chance of the game and Callum Hudson-Odoi has created a few chances wide left. Man United put together a few counters toward the end of the half, showing the visitors could yet come up with something, especially with Ronaldo on the bench. Otherwise, it’s been one-way traffic.
Final third touches
Callum Hudson-Odoi: 20
Hakim Ziyech: 17
Marcos Alonso: 16
Manchester United: 14— James Benge (@jamesbenge) November 28, 2021
46th min.: The Reece James set piece bounces in the box and is swatted away by De Gea for a corner but nothing comes of it.
45th min.: Yellow card to Scott McTominay for pulling down Marcos Alonso who was making a run toward the Man United box. Set piece coming up for Chelsea.
44th min.: Counterattack by Man United sees the ball get to Fred in the box, but he goes down on a challenge from Rudiger. No whistle from the ref and it’s the right call.
41st min.: A deep ball looking for Jadon Sancho forces Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy off his line to beat Sancho to the ball in the ‘keeper’s first action of the game.
40th min.: Giveaway by Fred in his own end after a poor backpass from a teammate. Chelsea nearly capitalizes, but Reece James can’t put the ball on target.
Chelsea bench telling Darren Fletcher to sit down as the Manchester United coach says that is the 4th foul from Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Getting a bit tetchy on the sidelines and on the pitch here at Stamford Bridge. #CFC 0-0 #MUFC #CHEMUN
— Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) November 28, 2021
36th min.: And now Hudson-Odoi with another effort on goal and De Gea stops Chelsea again.
Chelsea 54-3 Manchester United in passes in the final third.
Tells you everything not just about this game but about the two clubs at this moment in time.
— Kris Voakes (@krisvoakes) November 28, 2021
31st min.: Chelsea hits the crossbar! Antonio Rudiger with the blast touched by David De Gea off the crossbar. And then there’s an offside called on the follow-up.
25th min.: Strong defending so far from Man United. The Red Devils are challenging and running hard. No attacking threats to speak of for the visitors, but this result would suit them just fine.
18th min.: Hudson-Odoi feeds Ziyech at the top of the box and his first-time shot looking for the top right corner is way off the mark. Chelsea liking that wide left area with Marcos Alonso and Callum Hudson-Odoi.
16th min.: Man United has weathered the early storm from Chelsea and seems to be settling in nicely. Chelsea can’t get into a rhythm so far.
7th min.: Fernandes wearing the captain’s armband for Man United. He looks go be in the false nine position with Rashford and Sancho on either side of him.
4th min.: Kick save De Gea! Callum Hudson-Odoi gets through on the left side of the box and his 1-on-1 shot is kicked away for a corner by De Gea.
3rd min.: Ball squirts through to Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech in the box and he shoots between three defenders, but David De Gea snags it.
1st min.: We’re off and Man United pressing high to start the match.
11:27 a.m.: Starters are on the field:
11:22 a.m.: Gary Neville speculating that incoming Man United manager Ralf Rangnick asked Michael Carrick to sit Ronaldo. That one sounds far-fetched:
A lot of people having a go at Michael Carrick for dropping Ronaldo and picking that MDF. I’ve a feeling the the incoming manager has picked that team as it’s a huge departure from midweek and what they’ve been doing
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) November 28, 2021
11:22 a.m.: Perhaps sitting Cristiano Ronaldo has a lot to do with this matchup:
📊 Chelsea have conceded only 17 goals in 31 PL games under Thomas Tuchel – fewer than Man Utd (19) have conceded in their last 9 PL games
Tuchel’s side has scored 55 PL goals under him, shared between 19 players, with none scoring more than 7 pic.twitter.com/hLhetMjZiA
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) November 28, 2021
11:09 a.m.: Everyone’s trying to figure out how Man United will line up: Is Bruno Fernandes in midfield or up top as a false nine?
🗣 “It seems like Bruno Fernandes plays like a false nine. We didn’t spend too much time in wasting energy and guessing stuff we don’t know.”
Thomas Tuchel says the Man United team have changed but he didn’t prepare for an unpredictable starting eleven pic.twitter.com/JA2Z1aj0B2
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) November 28, 2021
9:26 a.m.: The scene for today’s big match:
Chelsea vs. Manchester United lineups
Forward Romelu Lukaku is on the bench for Chelsea, which will be missing two important midfielders in Mateo Kovacic and N’Golo Kante after he picked up a knee injury in midweek. Ben Chillwell is out with a long-term knee ligament injury.
Chelsea starting lineup (3-4-3, left to right): 16-Edouard Mendy-GK — 2-Antonio Rudiger, 6-Thiago Silva, 14-Trevor Chalobah — 3-Marcos Alonso, 5-Jorginho, 12-Ruben Loftus-Cheek, 24-Reece James — 20-Callum Hudson-Odoi, 11-Timo Werner, 22-Hakim Ziyech
Chelsea subs (9): 1-Kepa Arrizabalaga-GK, 28-Cesar Azpilicueta, 4-Andreas Christensen, 18-Ross Barkley, 17-Saul Niguez, 19-Mason Mount, 10-Christian Pulisic, 9-Romelu Lukaku, 29-Kai Havertz
Interim Michael Carrick is making some big calls with Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench and Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford getting the start after being left out of the starting lineup in midweek. Man United is shorthanded for this one: Harry Maguire (red-card suspension), Paul Pogba (thigh), Raphael Varane (hamstring), Luke Shaw (concussion protocol) and Edinson Cavani (tendon) are not in the squad.
Manchester United starting lineup (4-3-3, left to right): 1-David de Gea-GK — 27-Alex Telles, 3-Eric Bailly, 2-Victor Lindelof, 29-Aaron Wan-Bissaka — 17-Fred, 39-Scott McTominay, 31-Nemanja Matic — 10-Marcus Rashford, 18-Bruno Fernandes (capt), 25-Jadon Sancho
Manchester United subs (9): 26-Dean Henderson-GK, 20-Diogo Dalot, 4-Phil Jones, 14-Jesse Lingard, 8-Juan Mata, 34-Donny van de Beek, 11-Mason Greenwood, 9-Anthony Martial, 7-Cristiano Ronaldo
How to watch Chelsea vs. Manchester United
- Date: Sunday, Nov. 28
- Time: 11:30 a.m. ET
- TV Channels: None
- Streaming: Peacock
The match is only available in the USA on NBC’s streaming platform Peacock.
In Canada, the Premier League is available exclusively, live and on-demand, on DAZN . And DAZN offers new customers a 30-day free trial period.