Why April could be a fruitful month for Manchester United

Stamford Bridge will play host to the intriguing battle between two of the giants of English football, with both teams looking to return to winning ways following draws on Saturday; Chelsea were held to a 2-2 by Burnley, while Man United shared the spoils with Brentford in West London.

Man United remain sixth, nine points behind fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who have played a game more, with fifth likely to be enough to secure Champions League football for next term.

Chelsea, though, are down in 12th position, 17 points behind Spurs, although the Blues do have two matches spare on Ange Postecoglou's side.

Man United will be aiming to stretch their unbeaten run against Chelsea in the Premier League to 13 matches on Thursday, winning five and drawing seven of their last 12 with the London club in England's top flight.

April a successful month for Man United in the Premier League

Man United have been victorious in more matches (80) and have a higher win percentage (59.7%) in April than any other side in the history of the Premier League.

Erik ten Hag's side have five league games to come this month, following the clash against Chelsea with a home fixture against title-challenging Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.

The Red Devils will then head to Bournemouth on April 13, before ending the month with league fixtures against relegation-threatened duo Sheffield United and Burnley.

Man United will also tackle Championship outfit Coventry City in the semi-finals of the FA Cup this month, but there is little room for error in the league if a top-five finish is to be secured.

The 20-time English champions will be hoping that April is kind to them once again, although they have won jus one of their last seven away games in the month, suffering four defeats in the process.

Man United were lucky to escape with a point against Brentford in their final game of March despite the fact that they took the lead in the 96th minute through Mason Mount.

Ten Hag looking for a response against Chelsea after Brentford draw

Brentford managed to level the scores in the ninth minute of added time through Kristoffer Ajer, and the Bees were unfortunate not to win due to their dominance over the course of the 90 minutes.

"I am long enough in football to know and some of you should also understand why such things happen. Sometimes you are not playing good but we are Manchester United, you have to win and you cannot give it away like we did, that was the biggest disappointment for me. We keep going," Ten Hag told reporters during his press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

"It's a tough competition, it's very tight and also a lot about which players are available and not. When you are on the right side of the line you can have a successful season but when on the wrong side you can have a much more difficult season.

"For the rest they (Chelsea) have a fantastic team, fantastic players and play very good football, they can beat anyone and have shown in this league."

Man United have won just one of their last nine Premier League away matches in London, suffering five defeats in the process, including losses in four of their last six visits to the capital.