The early calm before the inevitable lunchtime storm at Stamford Bridge, where Manchester United won back in April for the first time in six years thanks to Matheus Cunha’s late first-half goal.

Chelsea hit the woodwork three times in that game in what was a fourth successive league defeat without scoring under former boss Liam Rosenior.

It was only United’s second league win at Chelsea since 2002, having also beaten them 2-1 at Old Trafford last September under Ruben Amorim in a chaotic game that saw former Blues goalkeeper Robert Sanchez dismissed after five minutes and Casemiro follow after scoring, with Cole Palmer limping off injured.

Chelsea have not won at Old Trafford since 2013, when Sir Alex Ferguson was still in charge.

If United - winless in their last eight matches - were to beat the Blues again today, it would be the first time they have won three league games in a row against Chelsea since 1965.

Michael Carrick inevitably faced more questions over Bruno Fernandes, whose explosive public criticism of the manager’s tactics in the Champions League demolition by Como dominated headlines and led him to spend the entirety of the Bournemouth debacle on the bench.

understands that Carrick and Fernandes held clear-the-air talks face-to-face at Carrington earlier this week, with United confident that the latter has been back to his best in recent days following a difficult few weeks both on and off the pitch that included his home being robbed by a masked gang while he was away in Italy.

Carrick confirmed on Thursday that he had held talks with his players this week, and when asked about Fernandes’ situation heading to Stamford Bridge, he said: “Yeah, it was a decision, as I said, for what we felt for the game. That's it.

“You know, Bruno's fully committed to this football club, and we've absolutely no issues with that.

“You know, we move forward, we make decisions as we go, and we're looking forward to the game on Saturday now.”

Carrick added that there was “no decision to be made” on if Fernandes or Harry Maguire would be the captain moving forward, with the Portuguese set to retain the armband.

It looked to everyone as if Michael Carrick’s short-lived permanent tenure as Manchester United manager would be brought to a merciful end after last Sunday’s atrocious 3-0 home loss to Bournemouth.

The legendary Red Devils midfielder was serenaded by fans as he did a post-game lap around Old Trafford, during which he appeared to be waving goodbye.

Was Carrick therefore surprised to be given another chance to arrest this miserable decline?

“No,” he said at Thursday’s pre-match press conference.

“I'm here to do my job, you know. I'm here to do the best for the team and I'm desperate to make us better and improve things. So I'm not surprised, no.

“I said it after the game. I didn't expect anything. I was literally dealing with the performance, the result, what it was.

“Obviously, there's no hiding from the fact that the dynamics and the atmosphere in the stadium was a little bit different to normal.

“And going through that and digesting that, that I mentioned to you guys after the game.

“And it was purely my mind was, you know, what do we need to do to improve things?”

It is a shock to see Michael Carrick take charge of Manchester United this weekend, such has been the extent of the pressure on his position following those dire heavy defeats by Como and Bournemouth that continued an absolutely shambolic start to the season.

It is reported that he will get the chance to turn things around, though surely another listless defeat in west London today could cause a watching Sir Jim Ratcliffe to intervene.

Chelsea looked to have regathered their stalled momentum under Xabi Alonso with back-to-back convincing wins after the extended international break, but have endured a difficult week of their own with Carabao Cup heartbreak following a very rare home league defeat by Tottenham.

We anticipate a cagey and tense draw here that ultimately does little for either manager.

Draw, 1-1.

Kobbie Mainoo is set to return to the Manchester United squad at Stamford Bridge after resuming training at Carrington this week following a muscle issue.

However, the club have been rocked by the news that striker Benjamin Sesko is unlikely to play again until at least January as he continues to deal with a lingering shin injury.

Bruno Fernandes retains the captaincy and is expected to return to United’s starting lineup after holding clear-the-air talks with Michael Carrick this week.

Chelsea are boosted today by the return of boyhood Manchester United fan Cole Palmer, who served a one-match suspension following his late sending off against Tottenham during the defeat by Liverpool.

Pep Chavarria is also back in contention, while Moises Caicedo and Malo Gusto are both fine after struggling at Anfield.

Emi Martinez is pushing to return early following surgery on a fractured jaw, though won’t be involved this afternoon.

Maxence Lacroix picked up a hamstring injury in midweek and reports suggest there are fears that he may not play again until the New Year.

Star striker Joao Pedro remains a key absentee for Chelsea due to a thigh problem, sidelined along with captain Reece James, Jorrel Hato and Jamie Gittens.

Chelsea vs Manchester United is being broadcast live in the UK on TNT Sports 1, with coverage starting at 11:30am GMT.

Live stream: TNT Sports subscribers can also stream the match live online via the HBO Max app and website.

Hello and welcome to live coverage of Chelsea vs Manchester United as a high-profile showdown in west London kicks off another huge weekend of Premier League action.

It may be Halloween but the under-fire Michael Carrick will be desperate to put an end to the scary stuff as he seeks a positive result that could well save his job, with United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe set to be in attendance.

The situation is obviously nothing anywhere near as dire for Chelsea counterpart Xabi Alonso, but he too will be eager to see a bounce back this afternoon after midweek Carabao Cup penalty heartbreak at Liverpool that followed hot on the heels of only a second home league defeat by fierce rivals Tottenham in 36 years.

Kick-off is at 12:30pm GMT, so stay tuned for all your match build-up, breaking team news and live game updates, including expert insight and analysis from Standard Sport’s Chelsea correspondent Dom Smith at Stamford Bridge.