The race for the top four continues at the business end of the Premier League season, with the match between Manchester United and Chelsea at Old Trafford set to impact Champions League qualification.

At the moment, Man Utd are down in sixth, six points off the top four following the defeat against Arsenal last week.

Following that loss, manager Ralf Rangnick all but confirmed his belief that the top four was out of his team’s each.

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Chelsea, meanwhile, are positioned in third, but a bit of inconsistent form has left the Blues looking over their shoulders.

Man Utd are suffering from a bit of an injury crisis ahead of this one, as Rangnick confirmed on Wednesday that six first team players are will miss out.

“Fred is unfortunately not yet available, he tried to train yesterday but after training, I had a long conversation with him and he just told me he is still not fully fit, he is not 100 per cent,” Rangnick told reporters.

“With a player like Fred, who is always committed to give his very best, it doesn’t make sense with a muscular injury to play him too early because that we would take the risk of re-injury and this is something I don’t want to do. Apart from that, Harry Maguire is not available tomorrow, he has some issues with his knee, not a big thing, some niggles in his knee. He didn’t train yesterday and today.

“Paul [Pogba], obviously, Fred, Edinson [Cavani], Luke Shaw [are all out] and Jadon [Sancho] is ill – he has had tonsillitis since yesterday. He couldn’t train today and won’t be available tomorrow.”

David de Gea will start in goal behind a likely back four of Diogo Dalot, Victor Lindelof, Raphael Varane and Alex Telles.

Nemanja Matic and Scott McTominay should continue in midfield, with Anthony Elanga, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford making up the attacking trio behind Cristiano Ronaldo.

As for Chelsea, they have received positive news on the injury front as Reece James and Antonio Rudiger both completed training on Tuesday. James missed the West Ham game, while Rudiger hasn’t played since the FA Cup semi-final victory versus Crystal Palace.

They will, however, still be without Mateo Kovacic, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ben Chilwell, while Andreas Christensen and Ross Barkley are ill and will be assessed closer to kick off.

Edouard Mendy will start in goal, with Rudiger coming back into central defence alongside Thiago Silva and Cesar Azpilicueta.

James will return to his wing back spot, if fit, with Marcos Alonso on the opposite side.

WIth Kovacic still out, the central midfield pairing of Jorginho and N’Golo Kante picks itself.

Christian Pulisic scored the late winner versus West Ham so could come in to replace Timo Werner, with Mason Mount and Kai Havertz retaining their spots in the front three.

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