Michael Carrick has described Manchester United’s upcoming Premier League clash against Chelsea as a major fixture, saying “It has the feelings of a real, proper game.”
The Red Devils sit third in the Premier League table, seven points ahead of sixth-placed Chelsea, with both sides still battling for Champions League qualification.
Following their 2-1 victory in September, United are aiming to complete a Premier League double over Chelsea for only the second time since the 2019–20 season.
Chelsea have lost just one of their last 12 Premier League home games against United (W6 D5) and are targeting three consecutive home wins over the Red Devils for the first time since April 2006.
Carrick said he is looking forward to the encounter in London as United push to strengthen their Champions League hopes.
“It’s an important game. We’re in a good position in the league, and we want to keep building on that,” Carrick said.
“It has the feelings of a real, proper game, so we’ll be ready for that. We’ve prepared well and take the confidence from what we’ve built.
“It’s a tough place to go, always has been. We’ve had some tough games down there. Most of the time, they’ve been good games in terms of what it brings.”
United suffered a setback during the week after Harry Maguire’s suspension was extended by one game for improper conduct, although he was already set to miss the Chelsea fixture.
“There’s not much we can react to. Massively disappointed, of course,” he added.
“We’ve had a few reasons to be disappointed over those sort of situations over the last few weeks, but we have got to move on.
“The decisions have been made – something that we’re really disappointed with in many ways – but we’ve got to move on now, and that’s what we’ll do.”
Lisandro Martinez’s red card against Leeds United was also upheld, with Carrick commenting: “We are disappointed. We didn’t agree with it.
“It was pretty obvious how I felt about it after the game, and I still feel that way.
“It is what it is; we’ve been hit with some decisions, but we have to accept it and move on.”
