Rúben Amorim may be looking for another lucky break as Manchester United host Chelsea at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.
Manchester United host Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon in the Premier League.
It has been a difficult start to the season for United, who have collected only four points from their first four games. A late win over Burnley provided some relief, but they remain 14th in the table – their worst opening since the 1992/93 campaign.
Rúben Amorim’s men head into this fixture on the back of a heavy 3-0 defeat against Manchester City. While they showed energy at the beginning of both halves, United struggled to carve out clear chances for their attack, with Benjamin Šeško often left isolated. The pressure on Amorim is steadily increasing as a result.
Saturday will also see Alejandro Garnacho return to Old Trafford. The winger departed last month in a £40 million switch to Chelsea after falling out of Amorim’s plans.
Premier League confirm United vs Chelsea
Peter Bankes (pictured above) will be the referee on Saturday afternoon in Manchester. Bankes officiated 23 Premier League fixtures last season, three international matches, and four across other domestic competitions.
Bankes officiated United four times last season: A 3-0 win against Leicester City at Old Trafford, a draw away against Bournemouth, and losses against Brighton and Tottenham Hotspur.
Last season, Bankes issued 88 yellow cards in the Premier League and 118 across all competitions. He issued one red card last season across all competitions, with this coming in the Premier League. He also awarded six penalties, all of which came in the Premier League.
During the game, Eddie Smart and Blake Antrobus will serve as Bankes’ assistant referees. Tom Kirk will be the fourth official on Saturday afternoon, separating Amorim and Maresca.
Craig Pawson has been appointed as the Video Assistant Referee. Adrian Holmes will act as assistant VAR.
Amorim will be looking for another lucky break
When Bankes officiated United’s 1-1 draw with Bournemouth toward the back end of last season, he gave his only red card of the season to Evanilson in the 70th minute of the fixture, having deemed the striker to have conducted serious foul play after a VAR review.
Before then, United were being played off the park by Andoni Iraola, having gone 1-0 down after a superb striker from star forward Antoniee Semenyo. After the Red card, United were able to claw their way back and grab a last-minute equaliser through a close-range Rasmus Højlund shot.
Although the red card may have been deserved, it was indeed a lucky break for Amorim and his men after they were being thoroughly outplayed by Bournemouth for the 70 minutes prior.
Against Chelsea, Amorim will have to hope Bankes serves up a similar restbite for his side against Chelsea. Maresca’s men will head to Old Trafford looking to dominate, and it will almost certainly take some fortunate decisions in United’s direction to secure a much-needed win.
Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is streamed live every Thursday at 12:30 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.