Jose Mourinho makes the trip to what used to be home this Saturday lunchtime as Manchester United visit Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, although it must be said that the ‘Special One’ is perhaps fortunate to still be in charge of his current employers.
That is because the writing was almost on the wall as United found themselves 2-0 down after 10 minutes when playing host to Newcastle at Old Trafford in their last outing before the recent October international break.
To Mourinho’s obvious relief, the Red Devils launched a dramatic comeback and one that then snatched victory with almost the last touch of the game. Alexis Sanchez went some way to answering his recent critics as he headed home to break Newcastle’s hearts.
Whether you believe the rumour that Mourinho was to be sacked regardless of the result against the Magpies is up to you. But had United not managed that turnaround at Old Trafford then we would have found out just how true it was.
Thankfully for United’s current managerial incumbent he lives to fight another week, the question that still remains though is whether or not that was the pivotal moment in his stint at the club or whether it was just a last hurrah.
That is something that may be answer come Saturday as high flying Chelsea would love nothing more to pile more misery on the man who had not one but two managerial stints here in West London.
While more importantly they will want to keep pace with the other two sides that they currently sit joint top of the Premier League table with, that duo of course coming in the shape of Manchester City and Liverpool.
Chelsea’s last league outing saw them make light work of Southampton at St Mary’s and as good as Eden Hazard played that game it was another man this time around who earned the bulk of the plaudits.
The man in question was Ross Barkley, who made the opener for Hazard before adding the second himself. That performance was certainly match winning and undoubtedly played a huge part in the former Everton man’s return to the England squad.
If he can keep that level on the pitch up then it will lessen the burden on the shoulders of Belgian international Eden Hazard, especially in terms of goals and creativity. Although that is not to say that their star man is shirking his responsibilities either.
Hazard looks like the league winning edition, not the one who went through slumps in 2015 and 2017. When he clicks, Chelsea seem to go all the way and manager Maurizio Sarri will be hoping that this is the case come the end of the season.
It will be the first Premier League clash between he and Mourinho and on current form it looks as if it could only go one way. United will undoubtedly show some fight, but they are lacking the match winning class on a consistent basis, this should be a home win for the Blues.