Chelsea's Enzo Maresca weighs up Man Utd task with honest verdict on Ruud van Nistelrooy

Enzo Maresca fears Chelsea’s Old Trafford hoodoo will be harder to break with his old pal Ruud van Nistelrooy in charge at .

The Italian and the Dutchman have been friends since playing a season together for Spanish side Malaga in 2011-12. And the Blues’ winless streak at the Reds dates back almost as far to the last time Manchester United won the title.

Juan Mata scored the winner at Old Trafford in May 2013 against the already crowned champions in Sir ’s penultimate home game. Rafa Benitez was the Chelsea boss that day before the second coming of .

Now Chelsea travel north in a period of relative stability while United are going through their own latest managerial upheaval after the sacking of Erik ten Hag. Van Nistelrooy is taking temporary charge before the appointment of Ruben Amorim.

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But Maresca warned: “For sure it will be a tougher game. When you change managers, always for the first one, two, three games, you can see the reaction from the players. So probably it will be. But in any case it will be a tough game.”

The former City boss has watched his former side lose 5-2 to Van Nistelrooy’s side in midweek and claimed: “Overall they tried to do the same thing, because it’s quite difficult to change in such a short period. I saw that they changed small things. But overall against Leicester, they were, more or less, in the way they were.”

Now he will reunite with his former team-mate who is four years his senior. "First of all, a fantastic guy - very humble and professional,” Maresca said. He jokingly added: “Unfortunately I shared with him a time where he was already finished but even with that, you can see how good he was.

"We had a very good group of human beings with Malaga at the time so it is always nice to remember that moment. I haven't spoken with Ruud. I will give him a big hug on Sunday before the game. We expect a tough game."

The former midfielder was blissfully unaware of his club’s poor Old Trafford record until his pre-match press conference. "We didn't win there since 2013?” he asked. “Hopefully it is a good time. That shows how difficult that stadium is; not only for us but for every club.

“Old Trafford is one of the stadiums in the that is “nice” in terms of intimidation. Like Anfield, it’s the same. Or in Italy, the San Siro years ago, or in Spain, and Madrid. They are stadiums that are nice for intimidating. “

Chelsea played well in an entertaining game at Anfield last month but still lost to show they are not yet title contenders. His cup side also lost at in midweek. Maresca acknowledged his young side had to learn to win at such venues but added: “We played a few weeks ago at Anfield and the performance was there and I don’t think the players feel that kind of intimidation so hopefully it can be the same on Sunday.”

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