Michael Carrick insists he will still be in the Old Trafford dugout on Tuesday night. After what happened at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, plenty of Manchester United supporters are wondering how much longer that can remain true.
Chelsea beat ten-man United 2-0 in the early-evening kick-off on 31 October, with Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer on target and Lisandro Martínez sent off in a chaotic three-minute spell midway through the second half. The defeat stretched United’s winless run to nine games in all competitions, the club’s worst sequence since September 1984, and left them hovering just one point above the Premier League relegation zone.
How the game slipped away
For 45 minutes United were very much in it. The first half was open, and the visitors twice thought they had scored, only for efforts from Matheus Cunha and Estêvão to be ruled out for offside, according to ESPN’s match report. Bryan Mbeumo also struck the bar late on.
The momentum swung five minutes after the restart. Rogers, Chelsea’s most dangerous attacker all season, ran at the heart of the United back line and dinked a finish over goalkeeper Senne Lammens. Sky Sports noted it took him to ten goal involvements (six goals, four assists) in all competitions this term.
Then came the moment that ended the contest. Martínez was booked for a foul on Rogers and, roughly three and a half minutes later, a VAR check picked up the Argentine raising an arm into the face of Wesley Fofana as a Chelsea corner came in. A second yellow followed, and so did a penalty. Palmer’s spot-kick squirmed in off the post despite Lammens getting both hands to it, giving the England playmaker his 50th Premier League goal for Chelsea.
ESPN reported that Martínez, who had publicly criticised the club’s hierarchy after the Champions League loss in Madrid earlier in October, did not acknowledge Carrick as he walked off. The home crowd, meanwhile, spent part of the evening taunting the United head coach.
The numbers that make grim reading
The statistics around this United side are startling. According to Sky Sports, they have now gone seven away games without a win from the start of a season for the first time since 1973/74, the campaign that ended in relegation. They have yet to keep a single clean sheet in nine Premier League matches, and they have just seven points on the board.
ESPN pointed out that United have only twice before gone ten matches without a win, in 1961-62 and 1977-78. A draw or defeat against Roma would equal that unwanted mark.
Context matters too. Many observers expected Carrick to be dismissed after the 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth last weekend, but the club’s leadership chose to give him more time. That decision came amid a public row with captain Bruno Fernandes, who was left out against Bournemouth after criticising the tactics following the 4-1 Champions League thrashing at Como. Fernandes was restored to the starting line-up at Chelsea.
For Chelsea and Xabi Alonso, it was a timely response after two straight defeats. They fielded the youngest Premier League starting XI seen since May 2025, kept their first home league clean sheet in 13 matches and climbed above Liverpool into fourth. Alonso called it a mature display but, in typical fashion, added that his side can still improve.
Carrick: ‘Yeah’ to Roma
Asked by TNT Sports whether he expected to be in charge for Tuesday’s Champions League game against Roma, Carrick answered simply: “Yeah.” He said he was looking forward to preparing his players for the midweek fixture and declined to pin the defeat on Martínez’s dismissal. He told reporters United “found a way of unravelling” in the second half after Chelsea struck first.
The club has made no public statement on his position, and there has been no official word on any change. Bookmakers have made Carrick the clear favourite to be the next Premier League manager to leave his job, but betting markets are not news and should be treated with caution.
What happens next
United host Roma at Old Trafford on Tuesday 3 November, kick-off 8pm Irish time. With one win from three games in the Champions League league phase (a 4-0 win over Sabah followed by defeats to Atlético Madrid and Como), it is a big night for their European hopes as well as for the head coach.
Results elsewhere this weekend will decide whether United spend the next few days inside the bottom three. For Irish fans of the club, and there are a lot of them, the honest answer is that nobody outside the boardroom yet knows whether Tuesday is a fresh start or a last stand. We will update this story if the club confirms any change.
Sources
- Sky Sports: Chelsea 2-0 Man Utd match report (31 October 2026)
- ESPN: Pressure piles on Michael Carrick as 10-man Man United lose at Chelsea (31 October 2026)
- Sky Sports: Carrick expects to remain in charge vs Roma (31 October 2026)
- Sky Sports: Scores and fixtures, 31 October 2026 (31 October 2026)
- UEFA: 2026/27 Champions League league phase fixtures and results (accessed 1 November 2026)
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