EXCLUSIVE: A Chelsea icon has sent a warning to his former club as they prepare to face a wounded Manchester United team at Stamford Bridge on Saturday

A Chelsea icon has issued a warning to his former club as they prepare to face an incredibly wounded Manchester United side. Xabi Alonso’s side host the crisis-hit club at Stamford Bridge on Saturday in a game they are firm favourites to win on paper.

The Blues have enjoyed an encouraging start to life under the Spanish coach, but a Carabao Cup exit on penalties to Liverpool and a miserable defeat at home to Tottenham last Saturday has left this clash against the Red Devils feeling like an important one for their season.

And in the other dugout, the stakes couldn’t be higher for Michael Carrick, who survived the sack this week, despite an eight-game winless run that has left the fallen giants languishing in 16th in the Premier League table, just one point above the relegation zone.

Make sure you never miss the most fun content in sport by making the Daily Star one of your Google preferred sources.

The Glazers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe orchestrated crisis talks with Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox on Monday following United’s dreadful 3-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth just days after a 4-1 loss at Como in the Champions League.

United are eight games without a win, but the team need to end their wretched form soon, and former Chelsea hero Gus Poyet has sounded out those concerns with the Blues to be without the injured Joao Pedro again.

Speaking exclusively to the Daily Star Sport, via Football Betting, Poyet said: “For Chelsea, they need to learn how to set up without Pedro.

“Against Tottenham the set up didn’t work at all, so Alonso must address this issue and then Chelsea can look to get back to the form at the start of the season when goals were flowing.

“For Chelsea, they would think they can beat a Manchester United side who have a lot of troubles and I think they can, but they must be more fluid in attack and get the set up right.”

Alonso opted to bring in former United striker Danny Welbeck in place of Pedro for the Carabao Cup defeat on penalties against Liverpool on Wednesday night, with the veteran likely to lead the line again.

However, one Chelsea star who proved to be a real livewire last season and the perfect profile to scare the life out of United’s miserable defence has failed to impress Alonso.

Estevao registered just eight goal involvements in his first season for the Blues, but the 19-year-old’s impact came beyond his output, with his pace and directness a continuous nightmare for full-backs. The Brazilian is yet to start a league game this campaign, and has made minimal impact off the bench in just a handful of minutes.

Poyet insisted that Welbeck is the man to go to for Alonso in Pedro’s absence, but with how poor the frontline was against Tottenham and Liverpool, Estevao should be in contention.

He continued: “With the way that Alonso has set up in games, I would think that Welbeck may get the chance because he is more of a central striker than Estevao.

“Though it he plays Rogers through the middle, then Estevao could be on the wing. But looking at the Tottenham game, the forward set up of the team didn’t work.”