Manchester United and Chelsea are set to lock horns with their eleventh different managerial pair after a sacking loop that has seen twelve different bosses working the last thirteen meetings.
United and the Blues will face off on Saturday in a crunch Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge with Michael Carrick and Xabi Alonso in charge of each respective team.
This is the latest managerial pairing amid an ongoing sack-athon that started back in 2020.
That was when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Man Utd and the West Londoners' Frank Lampard played out a goalless draw on October 24 at Old Trafford.
Lampard's dismissal brought in Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge and the current England manager picked up another 0-0 draw against Solskjaer on February 28, 2021 in London.
Carrick then replaced Solskjaer on an interim capacity and played out a 1-1 draw against Tuchel on November 28 of that same year at Stamford Bridge.
United made another caretaker appointment in Ralf Rangnick, who oversaw the exact same result on the return fixture at Old Trafford on April 28, 2022.
Then both clubs switched managers the following season as Graham Potter was hired at Chelsea after Tuchel's acrimonious exit and Erik ten Hag became the Red Devils' permanent boss.
That led to another 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on October 22, 2022 with Potter getting the sack soon after.
Lampard returned to his beloved club's dugout until the end of the season but suffered a 4-1 loss to Ten Hag and co at the Theatre of Dreams on May 25, 2023.
Mauricio Pochettino returned to the Premier League the following season but suffered a 2-1 loss to United, who were still led by the Dutchman, on December 6, 2023 at Old Trafford.
The pair met again on April 4, 2024 at Stamford Bridge where the Blues finally beat the Manchester giants 4-3.
Ten Hag's time then came to an end and was replaced by Ruud van Nistelrooy on an interim capacity, while Pochettino was succeeded by Enzo Maresca.
The new pair played out a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on November 3, 2024 before Ruben Amorim replaced Van Nistelrooy as United's permanent boss.
Amorim, though, lost the return fixture on May 16, 2025 in West London with Maresca and co winning 1-0.
The Portuguese tactician, though, got his revenge on September 20 of that same year as he won 2-1 at the Theatre of Dreams.
But Amorim didn't last and Carrick returned for another caretaker stint that proved to be successful as he also beat Maresca's Chelsea 1-0 away on April 18 of this year.
And the now permanent Man Utd boss will lock horns with Alonso this weekend.
It doesn't look like the cycle will end any time soon as Carrick's position is becoming increasingly untenable after overseeing the Red Devils' worst league start in 40 years.
Alonso also hasn't been stellar as he has only won half of his first eight Premier League matches, of which he lost three.
