Man United star has to redeem himself v Chelsea, he has strong record v £47.5m forward

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When Manchester United take on Chelsea on Wednesday, it will be the renewal of an old rivalry.

The two clubs have a history of being involved in gripping Premier League title races, the 2009/10 and 2010/11 run-ins come to mind, but it’s another battle on the pitch that should provide entertainment.

Raheem Sterling and Aaron Wan-Bissaka is a rivalry that not many might have expected to develop over the years but it certainly did during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s time as manager of the club.

The Norwegian decided that Wan-Bissaka would be the ideal right-back for the Red Devils in the summer of 2019 and the Englishman excelled in his first season, particularly against the City winger.

Wan-Bissaka’s dominance

Following United’s 2-0 win over City back in March of 2020, Jamie Carragher speaking on Sky Sports gave some advice to Pep Guardiola on how to get Sterling back to his best against United, which was a massive compliment to Wan-Bissaka.

“It’s almost become a massive rivalry this,” the former Liverpool defender said. “Yes it’s the two Manchester clubs, but it’s [also] Raheem Sterling against Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

“I think something Pep [Guardiola] has to do next time [the Manchester clubs play each other] is not put Raheem Sterling up against Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

“Sterling is one of the best three or four wide players in the world but Wan-Bissaka’s saying: ‘Come on, you’re not going to get past me'”.

Looking at the defender’s SofaScore rating against City in that encounter, Wan-Bissaka incredibly won 12 out of the 13 ground duels he contested.

As well as this, he made eight tackles and completed three interceptions and two clearances in a dominant 8.0 performance in the game.

Sterling was on the periphery of the game throughout the 90 minutes.

In the games that Sterling has played against United with Wan-Bissaka in the team, he has failed to score in simply due to the right-back’s big presence at right-back.

Wan-Bissaka has to start

In a game against Chelsea, which is a must-win for Erik ten Hag, Wan-Bissaka has to start the encounter if Sterling is going to be playing on the left against him.

Despite not looking his best against Newcastle United, not having that defensive security that Wan-Bissaka brings to the side is a huge risk.

Not starting the former Crystal Palace right-back would be a calamitous decision and one that the Dutchman would rue. Tactical or not, the Englishman would pretty much eliminate Sterling from the game due to his superb defensive work rate.

If he doesn’t start, however, that would be a ridiculous decision, and with Diogo Dalot not the best defensively, it would be a massive test of the Portuguese’s defensive abilities.