EPL: Bournemouth ambush Devils

Bournemouth vs. Man U
Venue: Vitality Stadium
Kick off: 12:30PM

Manchester United will make the trip south to face Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium this afternoon in the unusual position of being below their opponents in the Premier League table.
The Cherries have made a fine start to the season to sit in sixth place, two places and three points better off than Jose Mourinho’s struggling United side.
Bournemouth supporters must regularly pinch themselves in disbelief at how far they have come over the past decade, and never more so than this season.
Just 10 years ago the Cherries were fighting for their very existence having been handed a 17-point penalty in League Two, yet they will welcome English football’s most successful club sitting above them in the Premier League table.
It is the stuff of fairytales for Bournemouth, who would even climb into the top four with a victory today.
Such a leap might only be temporary, but with Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur facing difficult tests against Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers respectively later in the day, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that Eddie Howe’s side could end the weekend in the Champions League places.
Only two points separate them from fourth-placed Arsenal as things stand, while only the unbeaten top three have lost fewer games than the Cherries this season. Tottenham and Manchester United are among the 15 clubs to have lost more.
Indeed, Bournemouth will go into Saturday’s match with five wins and no defeats from their last six matches across all competitions since their 4-0 loss at the hands of Burnley – a result which is looking increasingly like an anomaly in the seasons of both clubs.
It is worth noting that Bournemouth have had things relatively easy up to this point; both of their matches against one of last season’s top seven have resulted in their two defeats of the campaign, and more difficult tests are to come with Saturday’s match marking the beginning of a six-game streak during which time they will face United, Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool.
However, the fact remains that Bournemouth are already halfway to the treasured 40-point mark with just over a quarter of the season gone, and their confidence will be sky high going into that tricky run of fixtures.
The Cherries’ 3-0 win at Fulham last weekend made it three consecutive Premier League clean sheets and another against United would see them go four top-flight games without conceding for the first time in their history – although their defence was breached in the midweek EFL Cup win over Norwich City.
Tuesday’s win over the Canaries not only set up a quarter-final showdown with Chelsea, but also extended Bournemouth’s unbeaten record at home this season, with Howe’s side having now won six and drawn two in front of their own fans.
Bournemouth are one of only four teams – along with Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea – yet to suffer a home league defeat this season, and United were actually the last team to beat them at the Vitality Stadium on their most recent visit in April.
The Bournemouth supporters will no doubt be expecting more difficult times to come, but for now they will enjoy their lofty position having been stuck in the relegation zone, 13 points and 13 goals worse off at the same stage of last season.

Bournemouth possible XI: Begovic, Ake, S Cook, Daniels, Smith, L Cook, Lerma, Fraser, Brooks, Wilson, King.
Man Utd possible XI: De Gea, Young, Smalling, Lindelof, Shaw, Mata, Matic, Pogba, Lingard, Lukaku, Martial.