# Chelsea v Manchester United: Carrick keeps his job for a Saturday lunchtime that neither side can afford to lose *Stamford Bridge, Saturday 31 October, 13:30 CET. United have gone eight games without a win and sit one point above the relegation zone. Chelsea lost to Spurs, went out of the cup on penalties and are without João Pedro.* Desk: Matches · Published 14:45 CET, 30 Oct 2026 · Match Time (https://matchtime.news/matches/chelsea-v-manchester-united-carrick-stays-for-stamford-bridge-test/) By Matches desk · Reviewed by Mikael Thuritz Match: Chelsea v Manchester United, kick-off 13:30 CET, 31 Oct 2026 (2026-10-31T12:30:00.000Z). Live odds: https://bettingbeast.com/odds/?match=2026-10-31%2C22%2C53 Odds at BettingBeast, correct at 13:54 CET, 30 Oct 2026: home 1.89, draw 4.05, away 4.32. Prices move. Saturday lunchtime at Stamford Bridge is the Premier League game of the weekend for all the wrong reasons. Chelsea host Manchester United at 13:30 CET on Saturday 31 October, and both managers arrive after a bad week. ## Why it matters Manchester United are 16th in the table with 7 points from eight games: one win, four draws and three defeats. Only one point separates them from the relegation zone, the bottom three places that send a club down to the second division at the end of the season. Nottingham Forest, in 18th, have 6 points. Sky Sports reported on Wednesday 28 October that head coach Michael Carrick will stay in charge for this game after the club's director of football, Jason Wilcox, and chief executive, Omar Berrada, discussed his future at the training ground on Monday. United have gone eight games without a win in all competitions. The latest was a 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth on Sunday 25 October, with goals from Rayan, Marcus Tavernier and Evanilson. Before that came a 4-1 Champions League defeat at Como. Chelsea are fifth with 13 points, six more than United, but their week was not much better. They lost 2-0 at home to Tottenham on Saturday 24 October, then went out of the Carabao Cup at Liverpool on Wednesday, 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Morgan Rogers scored Chelsea's goal from the penalty spot; Cody Gakpo equalised the same way almost at once, according to Liverpool's official site. ## The week around the game | Date | Fixture | Competition | Kick-off (CET) | |---|---|---|---| | Sat 31 Oct | Chelsea v Manchester United | Premier League | 13:30 | | Tue 3 Nov | Manchester United v Roma | Champions League, matchday 4 | 21:00 | | Sun 8 Nov | Sunderland v Chelsea | Premier League | 15:00 | | Sun 8 Nov | Manchester United v Aston Villa | Premier League | 17:30 | Fixture times come from the official Premier League and UEFA lists and can still change. After 8 November the league stops for the international break. ## Team news No confirmed team news as of 14:30 CET on Friday. The official teams are due at 12:15 CET on Saturday, 75 minutes before kick-off. What is known so far comes from the clubs and from the Premier League's own availability notes, which the league updates during the week. Chelsea will be without João Pedro. Head coach Xabi Alonso said on Monday that the striker has a thigh injury: "He has an injury on his thigh and he's going to be out for a few weeks." João Pedro has five league goals this season, and ESPN noted that Chelsea failed to score in both league games he has missed. Cole Palmer missed the cup game at Liverpool after his red card for two bookings against Tottenham; in England that normally means a one-match ban, so he has served it. The league's availability notes, updated on Thursday night, list Moisés Caicedo, Malo Gusto and Jorrel Hato as doubts with a 75% chance of playing, and Maxence Lacroix as a 50% doubt with a hamstring problem. Reece James (knee) and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (ankle) are listed as out with no return date. For United, the same notes list Benjamin Sesko (shin), Luke Shaw, Patrick Dorgu (hamstring) and Manuel Ugarte (knee) as out, Kobbie Mainoo as a 25% doubt and Marcus Rashford as a 75% doubt with a hip problem. The bigger question is Bruno Fernandes. Carrick left his captain on the bench for the whole of the Bournemouth game, and Harry Maguire wore the armband. On Thursday Carrick told reporters: "Bruno is fully committed to this football club. I've got no issues with that, we move forward." Asked whether Fernandes stays captain, he said: "There's no decision to be made on that." ## How to read the market BettingBeast's prices, captured at 13:54 CET on Friday, had Chelsea at 1.89 to win, the draw at 4.05 and United at 4.32. Decimal odds show how much you get back for each unit staked, including the stake, so 1.89 means a win of 0.89 for every 1 risked. Turned into rough probabilities, that is about 53% for a Chelsea win, 25% for a draw and 23% for a United win. The three numbers add up to slightly more than a whole because the margin the platform keeps is built into them. Put plainly: the market makes Chelsea clear favourites at home, but it does not treat United as a lost cause. A price of 4.32 for a club 16th in the table says the market still thinks about one game in four like this ends in an away win. ## What to watch The first 20 minutes will tell you a lot about United's mood. They conceded twice before half-time against Bournemouth and were booed off at full-time. Chelsea, for their part, have to find goals without João Pedro: Rogers played as the central striker against Tottenham, according to ESPN, and scored from the spot at Anfield. Our lean, phrased as a possibility and not a forecast: with both sides short of confidence and Chelsea missing their main striker, a tight game with few goals looks a little more likely than the prices suggest. It is a lean, not a prediction, and it says nothing about who wins. ## Sources 1. Man Utd boss Michael Carrick to remain in charge vs Chelsea and given chance to turn situation around (Sky Sports) https://www.skysports.com/football/news/13604347/man-utd-boss-michael-carrick-to-remain-in-charge-vs-chelsea-and-given-chance-to-turn-situation-around - read 14:12 CET, 30 Oct 2026 2. Manchester United: Michael Carrick ready to 'move forward' with Bruno Fernandes as captain and doesn't require assurances on his own future (Sky Sports) https://www.skysports.com/football/news/13605331/manchester-united-michael-carrick-ready-to-move-forward-with-bruno-fernandes-as-captain-and-doesnt-require-assurances-on-his-future - read 14:10 CET, 30 Oct 2026 3. Man Utd 0-3 Bournemouth: Michael Carrick drops Bruno Fernandes but sees Cherries humble United at Old Trafford (Sky Sports) https://www.skysports.com/football/manchester-united-vs-bournemouth/5782183476081516232 - read 14:20 CET, 30 Oct 2026 4. Xabi Alonso confirms Chelsea team news for Liverpool (Chelsea FC) https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/xabi-alonso-confirms-chelsea-team-news-for-liverpool - read 14:15 CET, 30 Oct 2026 5. Xabi Alonso on João Pedro's Chelsea absence: Looking for solutions, not excuses (ESPN) https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/50298418/xabi-alonso-joao-pedro-chelsea-absence-looking-solutions-not-excuses - read 14:16 CET, 30 Oct 2026 6. Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea (6-5 pens): Watch Carabao Cup highlights and full replay (Liverpool FC) https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/liverpool-chelsea-carabao-cup-highlights-watch-replay - read 14:18 CET, 30 Oct 2026 7. All 380 fixtures for the 2026/27 Premier League season (Premier League) https://www.premierleague.com/en/news/4675097/all-380-fixtures-for-202627-premier-league-season - read 14:05 CET, 30 Oct 2026 --- 18+. Gambling involves risk and can be addictive. Please gamble responsibly. 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