The next instalment in the race for the top four comes on Thursday as Chelsea make the trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United.

The hosts fell 3-1 to Arsenal last time out and know that another defeat would all but officially end their hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.

Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea have been similarly uninspiring in recent weeks but kept themselves ahead in the European race with a nervy 1-0 win over West Ham that left them five points clear of Arsenal with this game in hand.

Here’s all you need to know about this one.

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When is kick off? Thursday 28 April, 19:45 (BST)
Where is the match being played? Old Trafford
TV channel/live stream? Sky Sports Premier League (UK), NBC Universo (US)
Highlights? Sky Sports Football YouTube
Referee? Mike Dean
VAR? John Brooks

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Ralf Rangnick has already confirmed that United will be without no fewer than six first-team players for this one.

Fred, Edinson Cavani, Paul Pogba (all calf) and Luke Shaw (ankle) remain out, and they have been joined by Harry Maguire (knee) and Jadon Sancho (illness). The boss has confirmed that there could be a handful of academy players in the squad to help out.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka will also face a late fitness test, but Rangnick didn’t offer any insight as to why.

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Just the four confirmed absentees for Chelsea: Mateo Kovacic (ankle), Ben Chilwell (knee), Callum Hudson-Odoi (Achilles) and Ross Barkley (illness). Nothing new there.

Reece James and Antonio Rudiger have both been training in the build-up to this one, and centre-back Andreas Christensen returned to training on Wednesday after shaking off the stomach cramps that saw him drop out of the starting lineup for the West Ham game.

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Chelsea have a miserable record against United in recent years. They have won just one of their last ten against the Red Devils and haven’t tasted victory in the Premier League since a 1-0 win in November 2017.

Recently, it’s been a story of draws. The last three games between these two have all ended level, including earlier this season when a Jorginho penalty cancelled out Jadon Sancho’s first league goal for United.

United have turned Old Trafford into a fortress against Chelsea and have not lost to the Blues at home since Rafa Benitez squeezed out a 1-0 win over Sir Alex Ferguson in May 2013.

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United are stronger at home than they are away, but the reality is that they’re impossible to trust regardless of where they’re playing. Rangnick’s men are predictably unpredictable and that usually manifests itself in a defeat when they come up against any semblance of a gameplan.

That being said, Chelsea aren’t much better these days. The way in which they beat Real Madrid was stunning, but so were their defeats to Brentford and Arsenal. Nevertheless, it’s that capability to blow teams away which should give them the edge over a United side who haven’t flashed that ability for a while now.

If Chelsea are ever going to end their Old Trafford hoodoo, it’s now.

Prediction: Man Utd 0-1 Chelsea