Xabi Alonso came under fire for his comments after Chelsea's Carabao Cup defeat against Liverpool.

The Chelsea head coach admitted in a post-match interview after the penalty shootout that the Carabao Cup "is the least important competition for us" and that "the Premier League is the main focus".

Whether he was right or wrong, the Spaniard shouldn't have said it out loud, particularly with respect to the 6,000 travelling supporters who made the trip north on Wednesday night.

It was a chance for Chelsea to progress into the quarter-finals on their quest to win their first piece of domestic silverware since 2018.

Now Alonso has to back up his words. That comes on Saturday against Manchester United. Chelsea have to finish the week with a win to end their two-game winless run, especially after last weekend's embarrassing defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea and Alonso have put the pressure on themselves, but they are more than capable of heading back in the right direction, and Saturday's opponent is more than winnable.

United, who opted not to sack Michael Carrick after their defeat to Bournemouth, are winless in their last eight games in all competitions overall (D3 L5).

Chelsea’s recent record against United, and Alonso’s own, should serve as a warning that this will be a ‘tough game’, as he suggested himself.

After the Spurs display, improvement was almost inevitable, but Chelsea’s second half at Anfield still offered hope

Alonso's introduction of Emmanuel Emegha and Valentin Barco gave Chelsea structure after a difficult first half, in which Liverpool equalised soon after Rogers’ penalty in the 40th minute.

Chelsea had their chances and looked dangerous in attack, and they could've easily won the game, but they could also have easily lost it; they had Mike Penders to thank for a few excellent saves over the 90 minutes. 

They improved the performance, but not the end result. Now they need both against United. That is the required response. 

Unfortunately for Alonso, Chelsea's record against Man United doesn't make for very good reading. They have won just two of their last 17 Premier League matches against Manchester United (D8 L7).

The two wins came in 2023/24 and 2024/25. A thrilling 4-3 win under Mauricio Pochettino, then a 1-0 win the following season under Enzo Maresca.

Since the 1-0 victory, it has been back-to-back defeats. United did the league double over Chelsea, who cannot allow a repeat this time around.

Regardless of their form, United have always found joy against Chelsea. Alonso is now tasked with improving that record.

As revealed by Opta Analyst, Alonso has suffered a similar fate to Chelsea when it comes to facing the Red Devils.

During his time as a player at Liverpool, he lost five of his seven Premier League games against Man Utd as a Liverpool player (W1 D1) - his joint-most defeats against an opponent, along with Chelsea.

So both Chelsea and Alonso have something to prove, not only against United, but also with their recent form. They started October well; now they need to conclude it the way they started. Anything other than victory against an extremely fragile, winless side is simply unacceptable.