This weekend’s big game takes place on Super Sunday, with league leaders Chelsea travelling north to take on Manchester United. The West Londoners have been in scintillating form so far this campaign; Mourinho’s men are now unbeaten in eight games are five points clear at the top of the table. Manchester United, on the other hand, have had a sluggish start to the season as they struggle to shake off the hangover of David Moyes’ reign of terror. There are green shoots of recovery though, and the Red Devils have won their last three games at home. So let’s take a closer look at the head-to head stats, and see where we can make some money:

Goals

So far this season Man Utd have scored an average of 2.3 goals at Old Trafford, and conceded an average of 1. Chelsea meanwhile have been even more prolific on the road, notching an average of three goals a game and conceding 1.5. Put these stats together and you get an average scoreline of Man Utd 1.9 v 2 Chelsea. You can back Chelsea to win 2-1 from 8/1, and a 2-2 draw at 14/1. *A slight caveat to the above is that Diego Costa, who has scored a third of all of Chelsea’s goals this season, is likely to miss the game with a hamstring injury.* As far as the average time of first goal goes, so far this campaign Man Utd have scored their first goal in the 21st minute (on average) and Chelsea in the 23rd minute. You can back either team to score in the 16-30 minute window at 5/1, or for the first goal in the match to be scored in the same window at 2/1.

Corners

So far this season the average ‘corners per match’ for both teams looks like this: Manchester Utd: For 6.3, Against 4.3 Chelsea: For 2.3, Against 7.3 When you average this out you would expect Man Utd to have 6.8 corners in the game, and Chelsea 3.3 corners, which gives a grand total of 10.1. This is, essentially, backed up by the stat that Manchester United have recorded 50% and Chelsea just 25% of ‘Over 10.5 Corners’ in their matches in the 2014/15 campaign.   Cards The head-to head cards stats are as follows: Manchester United: Average for 26.3 points, against 25 Chelsea: Average for 28.8, against 32.5 When we put these together it is estimated that Man Utd will produce 29.4 points and Chelsea 26.9 in this game. And it’s probably adding a few more on too, as historically these two play out quite feisty encounters.   Goalscorers Chelsea’s early season form has been built around the goalscoring prowess of Diego Costa, who has bagged nine goals in eight games. He’s set to miss this game through injury though, as is his deputy Loic Remy. This is why there is some value in Didier Drogba – 6/1 first goal and 9/5 anytime. Man Utd lack a midfield hard nut too, so perhaps Oscar or Cesc Fabregas (both 9/1 first, 13/5 anytime) will tiptoe their way through. At Old Trafford the Red Devils’ top scorer is, surprisingly, Wayne Rooney, but he will miss the game too. It’s worth looking at Angel Di Maria, who has been the first goalscorer twice at home already this season and can be backed from 9/1 to repeat the trick.   Results As we mention above, this game looks set to finish 2-1 to Chelsea or in a 2-2 stalemate. If you think that the loss of Diego Costa will blunt Chelsea’s firepower, you can also get a 1-1 draw at 6/1. But if you like to look to precedents, then the last five Premier League encounters between these two at Old Trafford have ended: Man Utd 0 v 0

Chelsea Man Utd 0 v 1

Chelsea Man Utd 3 v 1

Chelsea Man Utd 2 v 1

Chelsea Man Utd 1 v 2

Based on this, the scoreline will be Man Utd 1.2 v 1 Chelsea. Indeed, in the complete history of these two meeting in Manchester, United have won 42%, Chelsea 26% and they’ve drawn in 32%.