Analysis: Manchester United

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer organised Manchester United into a 4-2-3-1 formation in possession. Scott McTominay and Paul Pogba were the double pivot behind Jesse Lingard, Andreas Pereira and Marcus Rashford, who supported central striker Anthony Martial. That attacking quartet were fluid in their positioning and dropped to receive possession but consistently kept one forward to discourage Chelsea’s defence from following the other three. They also attempted to create an overload against Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic in those central areas, and remained narrow to encourage full-backs Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw to advance.

During their build, United largely played through Paul Pogba, who regularly found space between Chelsea’s attacking and midfield lines to turn and advance play. McTominay performed with far greater caution but was similarly impressive in what he offered – chiefly, passing options for his defenders and cover when debutant Harry Maguire wanted to drive forward from central defence.

Having taken the lead, United operated closer to their own goal and attempted to hit Chelsea on the counter-attack, which they did clinically. In moments of transition they played forward early and sought to keep four runners ahead of the ball; those runners would then swap directions to further disorganise Chelsea’s already-stretched defence.

While out of possession and in the first phase of the press, Chelsea were also in a 4-2-3-1, in which Ross Barkley, Mason Mount and Pedro supported Tammy Abraham; this became a 4-2-4 when Mount joined Abraham through the middle and Pedro and Barkley pushed up from out wide. Gifting Pogba significant space between their first and second lines, Frank Lampard’s team struggled to be compact between those units, allowing United to progress easily. When they responded by dropping Abraham and Mount on to Pogba and McTominay, and using Pedro and Barkley to pressurise Shaw and Wan-Bissaka, Maguire was comfortable carrying the ball out from the back, in turn committing Abraham or Mount and thereby freeing a teammate.

The visitors also tried to squeeze United higher by sending Mount and Abraham to press Maguire and Lindelof and using Kovacic and Jorginho on Pogba and McTominay. United would then drop their attacking midfielders into the new large space between the second and third lines of the Chelsea unit and eliminate six Chelsea players when managing to find them.