Many to most pundits were assuming that Manchester United would be in a title battle at this stage of the season with Jose Mourinho at the helm and more huge investment last summer.
But far less were predicting a title charge from Chelsea who had suffered a really poor campaign under Mourinho and Guus Hiddink and looked as if they would need a season or two of transition to return themselves to the top.
And when Chelsea lost 3-0 to Arsenal at the Emirates in the autumn there were already dismayed frowns on the brows of most Blues fans.
The turnaround has been sensational since then. The uber-brave Antonio Conte chose that moment to revert to his 3-4-3 formation and Chelsea simply haven’t looked back. At the start of their magnificent run they dispatched Manchester United in a humiliating 4-0 defeat for Jose Mourinho’s new team and have since beaten them in the Fa Cup at Stamford Bridge too.
But, despite the fact that Chelsea will be favourites to make it three in a row, TFF just can’t see Jose Mourinho allowing his old side to escape Old Trafford with three points.
Even if Manchester United have to make a dirty scrap of it (and they may well do that) they will try to snatch the points by any means necessary.
Manchester United’s strength has been their defence this season – only Tottenham have conceded less in the league and Ivory Coast defender Eric Bailly has been superb in his first season at the club – and they will need all their reserves to keep the free flowing Chelsea out.
But we think that Zlatan will score for Manchester United who will scrape a 1-0 win and claim bragging rights, even if Chelsea do go on to win the title.
TFF Prediction
Manchester United 1 – 0 Chelsea
Zlatan 33