Chelsea received a boost to their hopes of securing Champions League qualification by beating Manchester United on Friday night.
The Blues narrowly beat Man Utd 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, lifting them up to fourth in the Premier League.
Enzo Maresca’s side can wrap up a top-five finish and Champions League football by winning away against Nottingham Forest on the final day of the league season.
Chelsea fear they will have to sell homegrown players if they miss out on Champions League football for a third consecutive campaign, but they are one positive result away from achieving their goal.
Here are five things we learned from Chelsea’s win against Man Utd…
Tyrique George can’t start at striker
Based on Chelsea’s win against Man Utd, we would strongly argue that Tyrique George can’t start as the central striker for the trip to Forest on the final day.
It’s certainly not a criticism of the 19-year-old youngster that he struggled to make a serious impact on the match. Ultimately, he’s a skilful winger who did a job for his team when they were without Nicolas Jackson, Christopher Nkunku and Marc Guiu.
The worry is that Enzo Maresca reacted to Tyrique George’s performance by saying he’s got the confidence to let him lead the line against Forest. Hopefully, it’s just a bit of clever man-management to avoid criticising the teenager.
Reece James must play at right-back
The performance of Chelsea captain Reece James against Man Utd underlined why he should always be playing at right-back.
Even though Blues head coach Maresca enjoys the versatility of James because he can use him in central midfield, his displays are night and day when he’s in his favoured full-back position.
He was a much greater offensive threat playing as a right-back against Man Utd. In fact, his sublime cross assisted the winning goal.
Gary Cahill raved about Reece James after Chelsea’s latest win by describing him as one of the best full-backs in Europe when he’s fit and playing.
The key for the Blues and James is to maintain fitness for an extended period because his injury record is poor. When he’s available, we want to see him in the XI on the right-hand side, where he can enjoy such a major influence.
Stamford Bridge becoming a fortress again
Chelsea have been at their best in the 21st century when Stamford Bridge has been a horrible ground for opposition sides to visit.
The Blues have played their final home match of this season, and they can now reflect on what has been a strong campaign at the Bridge.
Interestingly, Maresca’s side have the second-best home record in the Premier League this term.
| Club | Matches played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Points |
| Liverpool | 18 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 45 |
| Chelsea | 19 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 41 |
| Aston Villa | 19 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 40 |
Manchester City and Fulham are the only visitors to win at Chelsea in the Premier League this season.
Marc Cucurella would get the silver medal behind Moises Caicedo for POTY
Moises Caicedo fully deserved to win the Chelsea Player of the Season at the club’s end-of-season awards earlier in May. Yet again, the midfield colossus was outstanding in the Man Utd win.
However, Marc Cucurella deserves the silver medal for Chelsea’s second-best performer.
The all-action left-back scored the winning goal against Man Utd – his seventh of the season across all competitions – with a bullet header. Behdad Eghbali even congratulated Marc Cucurella on the pitch after his eye-catching performance on Friday.
One of the biggest success stories under Maresca is the way Cucurella has transformed himself into a massive goal threat by crashing the penalty box.
As well as being this new-look offensive threat, the Spanish full-back still defends with the type of aggression that supporters love.
| Ranking | Player |
| 1st | Moises Caicedo |
| 2nd | Marc Cucurella |
| 3rd | Cole Palmer |
Tosin Adarabioyo is the perfect squad player
It was a slight surprise to see Tosin Adarabioyo named in the starting line-up against Man Utd, largely because the centre-back partnership of Trevoh Chalobah and Levi Colwill has impressed in recent weeks.
However, Tosin slotted in seamlessly to the Blues XI alongside Colwill in the heart of defence.
Every time that Tosin, 27, is called upon to play, he very rarely lets the team down.
His signing on a free transfer last summer looks better and better every day because he’s turned out to be a perfect squad player.
