Man U vs Bournemouth
Venue: Old Trafford
Kick off: 1:30PM
Manchester United could climb into the top four of the Premier League table for a few hours at least when they welcome Bournemouth to Old Trafford in Saturday’s early Premier League kickoff.
Fresh from lifting the EFL Cup at Wembley last weekend, the Red Devils could leapfrog both Liverpool and Arsenal in the standings with a seventh consecutive win in all competitions.
Things may have got off to a slower start than many expected for Manchester United under Jose Mourinho, but victory today will leave the club in the enviable position of being in the top four – if only for a few hours – and with two trophies already under their belts this season.
Last Sunday saw United add the EFL Cup to their Community Shield success, and it was a victory that bore plenty of hallmarks of the club’s glory years under Sir Alex Ferguson – namely scoring late and winning when they were not at their best.
Not for the first time this season it was Zlatan Ibrahimovic who was the hero, scoring the opener and the late winner to take his tally for the season to 26 across all competitions, including nine already in 2017 – just one fewer than the entire Bournemouth squad have managed between them.
While United very much seem to be on an upward trajectory, Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe will be frantically searching for a way to stop his side’s slide towards a relegation battle.
It is a battle which Howe believes his side are already involved in, but with a four-point gap to the bottom three there is still just enough of a cushion to steer themselves back clear of danger if they can turn their form around quickly.
The first priority for Howe will be to stop the flow of goals going in against his side, with the Cherries having conceded 20 Premier League goals already this year – seven more than any other club in the division.
Old Trafford may not be the best place to do that, though, with Bournemouth having shipped a league-high 30 goals on the road this season on their way to nine defeats from 13 games. In all competitions the Cherries have lost seven of their last eight away games and this weekend risk losing five on the bounce for the first time since January 2008.
Man U Possible XI: De Gea, Valencia, Bailly, Smalling, Rojo, Herrera, Carrick, Mata, Pogba, Lingard, Ibrahimovic.
Bournemouth Possible XI: Boruc, Smith, Cook, Mings, Daniels, Arter, Surman, Fraser, Wilshere, Pugh, King.