Chelsea to already fear Man United test after what Ruben Amorim said about ‘unbelievable’ star
Enzo Maresca may already be putting plans in place to face Man United despite Chelsea first needing to play Brentford.
Chelsea must first take on Brentford on Saturday, 13 September, before shifting their focus to the Red Devils, but with manager press conferences taking place, news travels fast.
Liam Delap could miss several key games for the Blues after the confirmation that the striker could miss up to 12 weeks, with further doubts over Joao Pedro, Moises Caicedo, Estevao, and Andrey Santos.
Ruben Amorim is also facing a similar situation with injuries ahead of the Manchester derby on Sunday, 14 September, but his setbacks are nowhere near as severe at Old Trafford.
Matheus Cunha is only likely to miss one game
Speaking to the press (12 September), Amorim confirmed that Matheus Cunha, Mason Mount, and Diogo Dalot will all be unavailable to face their biggest rivals at the Etihad Stadium.
When mentioning Cunha, he said: “If you talk with Cunha, if you catch Cunha outside, he will say he can play this game! So I don’t know. We will manage day by day, but they are pushing hard, and that is a good thing.”
That would suggest that the talented Brazilian, who Clinton Morrison dubbed “unbelievable”, is only set to miss the one game [BBC Sport], making him readily available and well rested to face Chelsea in a huge home clash on Saturday, 20 September.
Given that the Blues also face Bayern Munich in the Champions League during midweek, coming up against the former Wolves man is the last thing Maresca will have wanted to think about.
What is Cunha’s record like against Chelsea?
Of course, Cunha is only entering his fourth season in the Premier League, but even so, he has made a habit of haunting Chelsea, winning three of his five meetings with the West London club.
In those matches, he has notched four goals and an assist, meaning that Maresca’s side are currently his favourite team to play against in the division, having netted a hat-trick back in 2023-24.
The 26-year-old has yet to kick-start his career with the Red Devils just yet, with Amorim suffering a slow start to the campaign, but facing the Blues represents him with a great chance to get off the mark.
Performances from his former Wolves days will need to be re-enacted if United are to pull off a surprise win next weekend, but for now, the main focus will be on facing Brentford first.