Man United vs Chelsea – Premier League: Live score, team news and updates as Cole Palmer equalises just before half-time after Scott McTominay opener… while City look to end slump

Follow Mail Sport’s live blog for the latest score, team news and updates as Manchester United host Chelsea in the Premier League plus Aston Villa vs Manchester City updates. 

More to come in the second half

So a bit of a mental half in Manchester.

Defending is apparently not on the agenda and both teams are going for blood, basically.

Sanchez saved Fernandes’s penalty early on with United battering the door down. They eventually took the lead through McTominay.

They will regret not taking one of the many other chances they created – Sanchez has made six saves already – and Cole Palmer equalised against his old clob just before half time.

We will see what the second half holds.

Half time – Aston Villa 0-0 Manchester City

It’s also half time at Villa Park.

There have certainly been chances for both sides, and Villa thought they’d taken the lead but the ball had gone out of play in the build-up.

You’d have thought there would have been a fair few goals in this one, strong attacks and weaker defences, but not yet.

Half time – Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea

Old Traffrod is much quieter now with the noise coming from the away end.

United get a corner to close out the half… and another… cleared.

Colwill trips Antony and United keep the ball to end the half.

Everyone breathe.

Cole Palmer squares it up!

It’s Cole Palmer! Agaisnt the team he supported as a child!

Space for Mudryk in the middle and Palmer moves into the middle fo the field too. He’s looking to shoot, left footed, and does so, getting away from Lindelof.

It’s not powerful but it’s absoltely perfectly place and creeps into the bottom corner. Game on!

Eight minutes added on.

GOAL! Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea

McTominay is alright to carry on at Old Trafford.

One move and United are four on three again. Caicedo fouls Hojlund about 35 yards out. Fernandes’s free kick hits the wall.

GOALLLLLLL!

Villa in control against City

A quick update on proceedings at Villa Park.

No goals yet but Villa have had 11 shots to City’s two. We know they struggle without Rodri and we’re seeing that again today.

Villa are looking to maintain their impressive home record.

Mudryk fires wide

Great chance for Mudryk this time! Space on the left for him and he has to chose between passing to Sterling and shooting.

It’s good defending from Maguire and Mudryk shoots from an awkward angle but it’s wide.

Scott McTominay is down and hurt.

Golden chances for both sides!

I can’t get over this defending from Chelsea. Tons of space for Dalot and Garnacho now with the ball across unable to find Hojlund.

There’s a communication issue between one of the assistant referees.

We’re back and Sanchez gives an easy pass away before slicing one out for a throw. His kicking is an issue.

MY WORD! McTominay has to score!

A header from McTominay who has the freedom of Old Trafford two yards out but he heads straight at Sanchez, and the follow up is straight at him too.

At the other end Sterling is in and feeds Jackson but Onana denies the forward!

Mad, mad game.

Penalty appeal for Chelsea

Raheem Sterling hits the deck in the box and the VAR will have a look but it’s either a dive or a penalty.

Check complete. A dive.

McTominay fires United ahead

It comes from Palmer losing the ball on the right but United are absolutely battering their opponents and Pochettino has left it too late to change anything.

Cross comes in from the left, the first effort is blocked, and the ball comes back out to McTominay, who finally puts United ahead.

Chelsea have been awful.

GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Chelsea

Luke Shaw is booked for kicking the ball away but United are opening Cheslea up at will here. Sanchez has to save again from Antony.

Palmer drives Cheslea forward now and feeds Fernandez, who shoots with his left and Onana saves the swerving effort.

The thing about this game is that neither side is waiting in their build-up.

A glorious chance for United again with the cross coming in and Silva having to block an effort just yards out. The corner comes in and is just about flicked away.

Chelsea can’t get out… GOALLLLL!

End to end football!

A great chance for Chelsea now up the other end with Jackson breaking.

He has Palmer to his right, Mudryk his left, and plays in the latter. Mudryk breaks through and hits the post.

Then Sanchez saves again up the other end, and Mudryk breaks again, but his pass is poor.

Any defenders about?

Sanchez to the rescue

It wasn’t a great penalty by Fernandes. His usual, slow run up and he waits for Sanchez to move but the Spaniard does not.

It’s tepid, heading for the bottom right, and the Cheslea ‘keeper saved before the follow up is fired over.

A huge let off for Chelsea.

BRUNO FERNANDES MISSES!

SAVED!!!

SANCHEZ GETS A HAND TO IT!

PENALTY TO UNITED

Chelsea are all over the place here. Antony hits the deck and then McTominay shoots but it’s blocked for another corner.

I think we might get a United penalty here… we are. Fernandez has stood on Antony.

United dominating early

Nervy save from Sanchez who saves low from Hojlund on a snapshot on the left.

Shaw’s resulting corner is met by Lindelof but it’s easy for Sanchez to gather.

Dalot gets forward now and his cross is fumbled by Cucurella, who slices the ball out for a corner. Cross in from Fernandes is headed away.

United well on top.

Fernandes fires the first effort over

Early possession for United, who have swapped their defence about too, with Shaw and left back, Lindelof back in the middle and Dalot right.

Chelsea’s defence is Colwill LB, Cucurella RB, Silva and Disasi CB.

Fernandes blazes the first shot of the game over the bar.

Kick off!

We are underway in both Manchester and Birmingham.

The last time Pochettino and Ten Hag faced off, that Champions League semi in Amsterdam.

Here come the teams!

The teams are on their ways out at Old Trafford.

Strap in for what should be another classic!

Five minutes until kick off

Not long to go then until the team will be on their way out.

Villa vs City will also be getting underway in five minutes.

Getting warm in Manchester

The warm-ups are well underway at Old Trafford.

And it will take some getting warm. It’s currently three degrees.

Levi Colwill to captain Chelsea

There had been a bit of confusion over who would captain Chelsea tonight with skipper Reece James and vice captain Conor Gallagher both not playing, but it will indeed be Levi Colwill.

Just the academy graduate’s 17th game for the Blues.

Patrice Evra slams United

I mentioned Patrice Evra’s words on United earlier on and he’s been going again, certainly not mincing what he’s been saying.

He slammed the players – particularly Marcus Rashford – and claimed that Old Trafford has lost its fear factor.

Read more below.

Chelsea's dressing room

And in the blue corner…

Inside the United dressing room

Here’s a peek inside the United dressing room ahead of the game.

I wonder if shirts nine and 10 will be used tonight.

Rashford and Martial are dropped

So the main takeaway from Old Trafford is that Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial have been dropped by Erik ten Hag.

We all saw Rashford’s performance against Newcastle and Martial and Ten Hag had a spat. All is obviously not well.

They will not play from the start tonight as a punishment, if you like.

Asked if they were left out due to a lack of commitment, Ten Hag said the following…

Pochettino explains Reece James's absence

Aston Villa and Manchester City teams

Here are the teams from Villa Park tonight…

The game is Unai Emery’s 50th game in charge.

Chelsea team to face Manchester United

Chelsea swap a few from their win over Brighton, but Reece James remains on the bench. Cole Palmer is in for Gallagher.

Sanchez, Disasi, Silva, Colwill, Cucurella, Caicedo, Fernandez, Sterling, Palmer, Mudryk, Jackson.

Subs: Petrovic, Gilchrist, Badiashile, James, Maatsen, Castledine, Matos, Washington, Broja.

Manchester United team to face Chelsea

So no Rashford, that’s the headline.

Onana, Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelof, Shaw, McTominay, Amrabat, Antony, Fernandes, Garnacho, Hojlund.

Subs: Bayindir, Evans, Reguilon, Wan-Bissaka, Mainoo, Pellistri, Ven de Beek, Rashford, Martial.

Team news on the way

Team news is five minutes away.

A few question to answer… does Reece James come back in? Who replaced Conor Gallagher? And will Marcus Rashford keep his place?

We’ll find out soon. Although I’m hearing Rashford and James are out, and Cole Palmer is back in for Chelsea.

'United fans are hurting'

Patrice Evra is one of the pundits on Prime Video tonight.

Chelsea are here too

Chelsea players have arrived too ahead of the match.

It’s a hard one to call tonight. Both teams are a bit up and down, with the Blues beating Tottenham, then drawin with City, then getting hammered by Newcastle before getting the better of Brighton.

United come into this one on the back of a dire result and performance against Newcastle last time out.

United players arrive

Right, focusing on tonight then.

United players have arrived at Old Trafford ahead of the game, with around 80 minutes to go until kick off.

A win tonight could in theory see the Red Devils go fifth in the Premier League table, while Chelsea are aiming to move up to eighth.

Is Ten Hag losing the dressing room?

Anyway, here’s our piece on how United’s dressing room spiralled downhill when Sir Alex Ferguson left.

From Louis Van Gaal being hated by his players, to Jose Mourinho clashing with Paul Pogba and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer turning on pretty much everyone, it’s starting to look like Ten Hag will suffer the same fate.

Read more below.

United turn on the media

The talk around Manchester United this week has once again been negative, with a number of high-profile media organisations being banned from the ground by Erik ten Hag.

The struggling Red Devils have taken drastic action against Sky Sports, the Mirror, ESPN and the Manchester Evening News over reports that United players are beginning to turn on manager Ten Hag.

United said the bans were issued ‘not for publishing stories we don’t like, but for doing so without contacting us first to give us the opportunity to comment, challenge or contextualise’.

Read more from Chris Wheeler below.

Plenty of games tonight

There are six matches tonight in the Premier League, so it promises to be an action-packed few hours.

Brighton vs Brentford, Crystal Palace vs Bournemouth, Fulham vs Forest and Chris Wilder’s Sheffiled United vs Liverpool all kick off at 7:30.

If you want to follow those games live, click the link below to join my colleague Ed Carruthurs for live coverage.

Hello!

Good evening one and all and welcome to Mail Sport’s live blog for Manchester United’s game against Chelsea at Old Trafford this evening.

It’s two sides that are underachieiving this season, to be honest, but a win here would be a big plus in terms of helping either side improve on what have been mixed fortunes of late.

Kick off is scheduled for 8:15, and we’ll be bringing you updates from Aston Villa versus Manchester City too, which kicks off at the same time.

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