Chelsea and Manchester United meet on Sunday in a Premier League grudge match which could impact both sides' title bids.

Antonio Conte is under pressure in west London just months after leading the club to the league trophy.

His opposite number Jose Mourinho returns to his old stomping ground with United five points behind league leaders and bitter rivals Manchester City who will have played Arsenal by the time the late game kicks off.

Here, our colleagues at the Manchester Evening News look at the talking points ahead of the Stamford Bridge contest...

Jose Mourinho could ring the changes (
Image:
REUTERS)

Will there be a surprise return?

Only three teams in the Premier League have more players on the treatment table than Manchester United right now, with Paul Pogba , Marouane Fellaini , Zlatan Ibrahimovic , Marcos Rojo , Michael Carrick and Jesse Lingard all absent.

But Jose Mourinho , who sprung a surprise when he started the ill Marcus Rashford on his last visit to Stamford Bridge, refused to rule out an unexpected inclusion in his pre-match press conference on Thursday.

"I'm not very optimistic but I don't want to lie. I don't want you to tell when I say no chance of recovering, so two more days to confirm my expectation."

Keeping your discipline

United had been more than holding their own on their last visit to Stamford Bridge - before Ander Herrera's second booking left their gameplan in tatters with 55 minutes still to play.

Red cards, unsurprisingly, have had a huge bearing on this fixture in recent years and United's last win at SW6 came against nine-man Chelsea in 2012.

There are plenty of tense sub-plots - Antonio Conte and Mourinho, Nemanja Matic's return, Alvaro Morata and Romelu Lukaku's duel - that could light the fuse on Bonfire Night.

Ander Herrera was sent off in March (
Image:
Getty Images Europe)

Matic vs Bakayoko

Forget Lukaku and Morata swapping sides, in a parallel universe Matic is still playing for Chelsea while Tiemoue Bakayoko is wearing the red of United.

The midfielder, a former team-mate of Anthony Martial's, had been interested in a move to Old Trafford after United secured their place in the Champions League but it was his move to London which triggered Matic's departure 16 days later.

Bakayoko, like Chelsea as a whole, has not looked terribly comfortable without compatriot N'Golo Kante alongside him in midfield; Matic, in contrast, has made a seamless start to life at United and any boos from the home end will only inspire him further.

Three at the back?

Chelsea's out of sorts defence, once their strongest asset when Conte could drill them midweek, is definitely not what it once was and they have kept just one clean sheet in their last eight games.

Chelsea have problems in defence (
Image:
REUTERS)

Just like against Liverpool last month, United have a real chance of sending out a huge statement against a leaky defence but it seems unlikely Mourinho will dramatically alter his approach.

The Portuguese could match Conte's three-man backline, though, and, in trademark style, look to rely on taking just one chance, such as the opportunity Romelu Lukaku spurned at Anfield.

The Spanish Wall

When United’s solid defensive shape is inevitably pierced, Mourinho is safe in the knowledge that he has the world’s best goalkeeper in his ranks - even if FIFA did not recognise it.

A save like that scarcely-believable stop against Joel Matip last month could again be required from the man who has kept more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper in Europe's big five leagues in the last year.

poll loading

Who will come out on top at Stamford Bridge?

4000+ VOTES SO FAR