Predicted Manchester United lineup (3-4-1-2) vs Chelsea, Lukaku and Matic start

Manchester United will seek to keep up with rivals Manchester City in the title race when they take on Chelsea in Sunday's late kickoff at Stamford Bridge.

The Red Devils clinched a morale-boosting 1-0 league win over Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, and they have since secured a comfortable 2-0 triumph over Benfica in the Champions League group stage.

Jose Mourinho utilised a three-at-the-back formation to match Spurs tactics last time around, and a similar setup could be deployed this weekend- with defence likely to be a priority for the Portuguese.

Formation: 3-4-1-2

Lineup:

David de Gea has been ever-present in United's top-flight games, and he is assured of a start between the sticks. Phil Jones, Eric Bailly and Chris Smalling made the defensive three versus Spurs last weekend, and Mourinho could go with the same combination.

Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young are certain to start in the right and left wing-back positions with the latter receiving a major boost this week after earning a long-awaited recall to the England national side.

Paul Pogba has made a good recovery from a hamstring problem, but Mourinho could restrict him to a bench role if required. In this case, Ander Herrera will take up his midfield role alongside Nemanja Matic, who could be the subject of a hostile reception following his Blues exit in the summer.

The likes of Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard are potential candidates to play in the number 10 position but Mourinho could go with the experienced head of Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Marcus Rashford is undoubtedly a regular league starter ahead of Martial, and he could start upfront alongside Romelu Lukaku, who has much to prove with his lean record of just five league goals against top-six opposition since August 2014.

Manchester United lineup: De Gea, Smalling, Jones, Bailly, Valencia, Young, Herrera, Matic, Mkhitaryan, Rashford, Lukaku