Martin Keown expects Chelsea players to be fired up against Manchester United

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Chelsea take on their former manager Jose Mourinho when he brings his Manchester United side to Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown has said in his weekly Daily Mail column that Chelsea’s players will be pumped up to get the better of Jose Mourinho when Chelsea take on Manchester United on Sunday.

It will be the first time Mourinho will return to Stamford Bridge and face his own club since he was sacked by the Blues last December after a poor start to the season saw them hovering just above the relegation zone, with a lot of talk of unrest in the Chelsea dressing room – culminating in Mourinho claiming he was ‘betrayed’ after his last game in charge, a 2-1 defeat to Leicester City.

Keown wrote in his Tackle Keown column for the Daily Mail: “This weekend there will be a lot of Chelsea players fired up to beat him. Mourinho had special relationships with players but he often pushed it too far and fell out with a lot of people. It’ll be especially interesting to see how Eden Hazard performs in this game.”

Some may think there is no love lost between the players at Chelsea and their former manager. Keown has perhaps highlighted Hazard because of his poor form for much of last season, and that he only managed to find his best level towards the end of last season, long after Mourinho had been shown the door. He has also shown flashes of his quality at times this season.

One would wonder if he is saving a big performance to try and hurt his old boss, and it will be interesting to see how Mourinho approaches his old club.

Going into the game, Chelsea are in fifth place, two points ahead of their opponents for this weekend. A lot could depend on the results from the games on Saturday when four of the five sides ahead of them play – with Manchester City playing on the Sunday.

It is another difficult game for Mourinho’s side where on the face of things a draw would not be a bad result, but he might be a little bolder going forward in this game compared to the 0-0 draw with Liverpool on Monday, as he would not want those sides ahead of United getting further away.

One other aspect that is bound to be mentioned ahead of the game is United’s participation in the Europa League, while Chelsea have had the entire week to prepare for the game.