There are fears within Stamford Bridge that Conte could be sacked if Chelsea suffer an embarrassing loss to United

Chelsea’s powerbrokers show little sign of heeding George Santayana’s famous aphorism that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. The club’s history weighs down its present employees as heavily as the pressure for constant success that flows from Roman Abramovich’s office in Moscow. Parallels from the recent past abound going into tomorrow’s meeting with Manchester United: the champions’ title defence is faltering, the head coach is under pressure and a former hero is returning to wield the knife.

Carlo Ancelotti’s position as manager never really recovered from suffering a home Champions League defeat by José Mourinho’s Inter Milan in 2010 — despite winning the club’s first league and cup double two months later — and there are fears within Stamford Bridge