On the verge of returning to the Champions League, Chelsea do battle with Manchester United in the Premier League on Friday night.
Stamford Bridge will welcome the Blues back home following a tough outing last weekend, when they were dispatched by Newcastle United at St James' Park.
Nevertheless, Enzo Maresca's men still have their top-five fate in their own hands, with Friday's hosts sitting ahead of sixth-placed Aston Villa on goal difference.
Man United are plotting a route into the Champions League via Europa League glory, with the Red Devils on course for their worst-ever Premier League term.
Ruben Amorim's troops are sitting 16th in the top-flight standings, with minds and hearts at Old Trafford distracted by an imminent Europa League final versus Tottenham Hotspur.
Here, Sports Mole looks at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between Chelsea and Man United before Friday's Stamford Bridge battle.
© Imago
Head-to-head record
Previous meetings: 196
Man Utd wins: 83
Draws: 57
Chelsea wins: 56
Two behemoths of the English game, Manchester United and Chelsea's first-ever competitive meeting came over a century ago on Christmas Day 1905, and the long-time adversaries have now locked horns on 196 occasions across all tournaments.
Eighty-three of those contests have seen Man United emerge triumphant, while there have been 57 stalemates and 56 victories for Chelsea, including their astonishing 4-3 success in April 2024 in one of the Premier League games of the season.
Two late strikes from Cole Palmer with over 100 minutes on the board saw the Blues avenge some previous Old Trafford beatings in remarkable fashion, having gone down 2-1 in Manchester in December 2023 and 4-1 in May of that year, a result which sealed a place in the 2023-24 Champions League for the Red Devils.
Prior to that springtime success, Man United and Chelsea had shaken hands on a draw in five successive contests, playing out a trio of 1-1 stalemates between November 2021 and October 2022 after a pair of drab goalless affairs behind closed doors in the 2020-21 season, which some fans may have been grateful not to attend.
Thanks to that run of one-pointers, and a 1-1 in November 2024 with Ruud van Nistelrooy at the Old Trafford helm, this fixture holds the honour of being the most drawn Premier League match in history with 27 stalemates between the pair - 20 of which have been score draws with another seven ending without the net rippling once.
Chelsea's most recent beating of the Red Devils on neutral territory came just before a string of stalemates began, as the Blues came up trumps 3-1 in the semi-finals of the 2019-20 FA Cup thanks to a horror show from David de Gea, only to fall to Arsenal's superiority in the final.
Since a 1-0 triumph in 2017, where Alvaro Morata struck the only goal of the game, Chelsea had gone winless in 11 top-flight meetings with the Red Devils before snapping that sequence in that seven-goal spectacular late in the 2023-24 term.
Formerly of both Chelsea and Manchester United, Mark Hughes has scored more goals than any other player in this fixture with 11 strikes to his name, while Wayne Rooney, Denis Law and the late Sir Bobby Charlton registered nine apiece for the Red Devils.
Last 20 meetings
Nov 3, 2024: Man United 1-1 Chelsea (Premier League)
Apr 4, 2024: Chelsea 4-3 Man Utd (Premier League)
Dec 6, 2023: Man Utd 2-1 Chelsea (Premier League)
May 25, 2023: Man Utd 4-1 Chelsea (Premier League)
Oct 22, 2022: Chelsea 1-1 Man Utd (Premier League)
Apr 28, 2022: Man Utd 1-1 Chelsea (Premier League)
Nov 28, 2021: Chelsea 1-1 Man Utd (Premier League)
Feb 28, 2021: Chelsea 0-0 Man Utd (Premier League)
Oct 24, 2020: Man Utd 0-0 Chelsea (Premier League)
Jul 19, 2020: Man Utd 1-3 Chelsea (FA Cup Semi-Finals)
Feb 17, 2020: Chelsea 0-2 Man Utd (Premier League)
Oct 30, 2019: Chelsea 1-2 Man Utd (EFL Cup Fourth Round)
Aug 11, 2019: Man Utd 4-0 Chelsea (Premier League)
Apr 28, 2019: Man Utd 1-1 Chelsea (Premier League)
Feb 18, 2019: Chelsea 0-2 Man Utd (FA Cup Fifth Round)
Oct 20, 2018: Chelsea 2-2 Man Utd (Premier League)
May 19, 2018: Chelsea 1-0 Man Utd (FA Cup Final)
Feb 25, 2018: Man Utd 2-1 Chelsea (Premier League)
Nov 05, 2017: Chelsea 1-0 Man Utd (Premier League)
Apr 16, 2017: Man Utd 2-0 Chelsea (Premier League)
Last 10 Premier League meetings
Nov 3, 2024: Man United 1-1 Chelsea (Premier League)
Apr 4, 2024: Chelsea 4-3 Man Utd (Premier League)
Dec 6, 2023: Man Utd 2-1 Chelsea (Premier League)
May 25, 2023: Man Utd 4-1 Chelsea (Premier League)
Oct 22, 2022: Chelsea 1-1 Man Utd (Premier League)
Apr 28, 2022: Man Utd 1-1 Chelsea (Premier League)
Nov 28, 2021: Chelsea 1-1 Man Utd (Premier League)
Feb 28, 2021: Chelsea 0-0 Man Utd (Premier League)
Oct 24, 2020: Man Utd 0-0 Chelsea (Premier League)
Feb 17, 2020: Chelsea 0-2 Man Utd (Premier League)
Ben Knapton
