Manchester United vs Chelsea Stats-Based Bet Builder Tips: More Palmer pain for Red Devils

Manchester United and Chelsea, both off the back of disappointing Premier League results last weekend, losing 3-0 to Manchester City and drawing 2-2 with Brentford, respectively, face off at Old Trafford in Saturday's 17:30 kick-off (BST), live on Sky Sports Main Event.

Below are my Manchester United vs Chelsea Stats-Based Bet Builder Tips, which come to 13/2.

Player to Score at Anytime - Cole Palmer (CHE)

Chelsea star Cole Palmer missed back-to-back Premier League games against West Ham United and Fulham at the end of August, and was only fit enough to return to action as a second-half substitute against Brentford last Saturday.

He made a triumphant return, though, finding the net within five minutes of his introduction at the Gtech Community Stadium, before scoring Chelsea's only goal in their 3-1 defeat to Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

Football Odds

The Man City Academy graduate had endured a difficult first six months of the calendar year, with his goals and assists drying up, but he looked somewhere back to his best towards the latter stages of the 2025 Fifa Club World Cup, opening the scoring against Palmeiras in the quarter-finals and bagging a brace in the final against Paris Saint-Germain.

Palmer didn't manage to breach the Red Devils' defence last season, but in his first campaign (2023/24) with the Blues, he scored in a 2-1 loss at Old Trafford and hit a hat-trick in a 4-3 win at Stamford Bridge. With Saturday's hosts shipping seven goals across their last three games in all competitions, I'm backing Palmer to get one over his old adversaries.

Matthijs de Ligt (MUN) Total Shots - 1+

At risk of sounding like a broken record, I'm backing an opposition centre-back to take a shot against Chelsea. You can read my Brentford-Chelsea Bet Builder Tips from last week to find out why I'm so big on backing such a selection, and while Nathan Collins failed to do his part at the Gtech, another defender, Kristoffer Ajer, a centre-back by trade, came off the bench and saw a header saved.

That made it four Premier League games in a row that Chelsea had conceded at least one shot to a centre-back.

Premier League Odds

Man United's Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt averaged 0.6 shots per Premier League match last season, and he's averaging one per game this term, having tried his luck three times against Arsenal and once against Burnley.

The 26-year-old can take advantage of Chelsea's defensive deficiencies on Saturday.

Patrick Dorgu (MUN) Total Shots - 1+

Patrick Dorgu has shot twice in two of his three Premier League appearances this season, against Arsenal and Man City.

The 20-year-old averaged 0.8 shots per game in the competition last season after joining in January from Lecce, and looks likely to try his luck at least once on Saturday.

Manchester United vs Chelsea Odds

Chelsea have conceded 41 shots in the Premier League so far, averaging 10.25 per game, and Bayern registered 16 attempts against them in midweek.

To Happen in the Match - Woodwork to be Hit

The woodwork has been hit at least once in the last eight meetings between Man United and Chelsea, and in last season's corresponding fixture, the Red Devils and Blues recorded a hit apiece.

Today's Football Fixtures

Man United hit the woodwork in each of their first three league games this term (four overall), with Man City clocking the only such attempt in last weekend's derby, while Chelsea hit the woodwork once at Brentford last Saturday.

Offers

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