Academy graduate Levi Colwill skippers Chelsea against Man Utd aged just 20 amid captaincy confusion with Raheem Sterling - as Reece James drops to the bench

Chelsea initially posted on X, formerly Twitter, that Raheem Sterling would captain the side against United but that post has since been rectified, with Colwill taking the armband in James' absence. The academy graduate is just 20 and has tallied a mere 16 appearances since his debut, but Mauricio Pochettino clearly trusts the England international.

Manager Pochettino has explained that club captain James is missing due to a lack of match fitness, as he was suspended against Brighton.

He said: “Reece played against Newcastle and then he was suspended against Brighton. For different reasons we need to try to look after him and his fitness. He starts from the bench with the possibility to maybe play in the second half and then to build again his confidence for the future, to be solid in his performance.”

Colwill scored his first-ever Chelsea goal last time out, against Brighton, and is now ready to wear the captain's armband for the first time in his senior career. The Blues will hope to record a major victory, as they can move as high as eighth with a victory.

A strong performance against United would go a long way to marking the young defender out as one of the best players of his age in the Premier League. He has emerged as one of Chelsea's most important players in recent weeks.