{"id":6984,"date":"2026-04-16T16:10:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=6984"},"modified":"2026-04-16T16:10:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:10:13","slug":"paul-merson-urges-michael-carrick-to-drop-man-utd-star-for-chelsea-clash-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=6984","title":{"rendered":"Paul Merson urges Michael Carrick to drop Man Utd star for Chelsea clash | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"646\" height=\"431\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2172250670.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=646\" class=\"article-image wp-image-28002413\" alt=\"Tottenham Hotspur FC v Arsenal FC - Premier League\" decoding=\"sync\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Paul Merson revealed his prediction for Chelsea vs Man Utd (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Paul Merson has revealed his prediction for the crucial Premier League clash between Chelsea and Manchester United and urged Michael Carrick to bench striker Benjamin Sesko.<\/p>\n<p>Chelsea welcome Man United to Stamford Bridge on Saturday night hoping to boost their Champions League hopes following a difficult run.<\/p>\n<p>Liam Rosenior\u2019s side have won just one of their last six games in all competitions, slipping to sixth in the Premier League and crashing out of the Champions League.<\/p>\n<p>Manchester United, in contrast, have climbed to third in the table since Michael Carrick was appointed caretaker manager in replace of Ruben Amorim.<\/p>\n<p>The Red Devils have dropped points in each of their last two games, however, drawing 2-2 at Bournemouth before the international break before suffering a shock defeat at home to Leeds United on Monday night.<\/p>\n<p>Merson believes United\u2019s winless run to continue at Stamford Bridge, backing Chelsea to clinch a crucial 2-1 win to boost their hopes of Champions League qualification.<\/p>\n<p>The Arsenal legend expects Enzo Fernandez to come back into the Chelsea team following his recent absence but says Sesko should be dropped and allowed to \u2018make an impact from the bench\u2019 as he has does effectively in the second-half of the season.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"594\" height=\"396\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2271013211.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=594\" class=\"article-image wp-image-28001389\" alt=\"Chelsea v Manchester City - Premier League\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Chelsea are struggling under Liam Rosenior (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018Chelsea were atrocious of the highest level in the second half against Manchester City,\u2019 Merson told Sportskeeda.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Luckily for them, they now face\u00a0Manchester United, who were also terrible in the loss to Leeds!<\/p>\n<p>\u2018This is a must-not-lose game for United and a must-win game for Chelsea. After this,\u00a0Chelsea\u00a0face Brighton away, Nottingham Forest at home, Liverpool away, Spurs at home and Sunderland away.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"594\" height=\"396\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2271274216_d42e40.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=594\" class=\"article-image wp-image-28002531\" alt=\"Manchester United v Leeds United - Premier League\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Manchester United summer signing Benjamin Sesko (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018If they lose this game, I don\u2019t see them playing Champions League football next season.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018As long as Manchester United avoid defeat, they are at an advantage for Champions League qualification because Chelsea will play Liverpool.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I would be shocked if Enzo Fernandez is not back in the line-up for this game.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"594\" height=\"396\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2270803099.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=594\" class=\"article-image wp-image-28001394\" alt=\"Manchester United v Leeds United - Premier League\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Man Utd were stunned by Leeds last time out (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018I still can\u2019t get my head around the fact that Chelsea banned him for two matches! They were crying out for someone like him to get on the ball and pass to break lines during the defeat to City.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Manchester United were poor against Leeds and have a few injuries to deal with.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I don\u2019t know why Bryan Mbeumo did not start that game though. And Casemiro is nowhere near the same player without Kobbie Mainoo next to him!<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I would probably leave Benjamin Sesko out of the line-up against Chelsea. He\u2019s someone who they can bring on to make an impact off the bench.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The other day against Leeds, they had no one who could do that as a substitute because Sesko was in the starting XI.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Chelsea could be ninth in the league by the end of the week, if they don\u2019t win this game. But I actually think they can trouble United. I\u2019m backing Chelsea to get a 2-1 win.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Manchester United beat ten-man Chelsea 2-1 the last time these two sides met back in September, taking advantage of goalkeeper Robert Sanchez\u2019s early red card.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>For more stories like this,\u00a0check our sport page<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on <meta charset=\"utf-8\"\/><br \/>\n<strong>Facebook,\u00a0<\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Metro_Sport\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Bukayo Saka injury latest with Arsenal return plans explained for Man City clash<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Frank Lampard responds to rumours he wants Chelsea forward at Coventry<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Paul Merson makes Man City vs Arsenal prediction and Premier League title claim<\/span><\/p>\n<section id=\"share-buttons-bottom\" class=\"share-buttons share-buttons-bottom\">\n\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Comment now<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-comment\" href=\"#social-comment\"\/><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-comments__label\">Comments<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-preferred-source\" href=\"#social-preferred-source\"\/><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-preferred-source__label\">Add as preferred source<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/section>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/> Paul Merson urges Michael Carrick to drop Man Utd star for Chelsea clash | Football<br \/>\n<br \/>#Paul #Merson #urges #Michael #Carrick #drop #Man #Utd #star #Chelsea #clash #Football<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paul Merson revealed his prediction for Chelsea vs Man Utd (Picture: Getty) Paul Merson has&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6985,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[347,363,364,949,317,230,1030,346,570,541,1622,471],"class_list":["post-6984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-carrick","tag-chelsea","tag-clash","tag-drop","tag-football","tag-man","tag-merson","tag-michael","tag-paul","tag-star","tag-urges","tag-utd"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2172250670_1776355535.jpg",1200,630,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2172250670_1776355535-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2172250670_1776355535-300x158.jpg",300,158,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2172250670_1776355535-768x403.jpg",640,336,true],"large":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2172250670_1776355535-1024x538.jpg",640,336,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2172250670_1776355535.jpg",1200,630,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2172250670_1776355535.jpg",1200,630,false],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2172250670_1776355535-1024x538.jpg",1024,538,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2172250670_1776355535-540x340.jpg",540,340,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a 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