Kick-off: 2000, 03/01/2023
Stadium: Old Trafford
Manchester United are starting to look like a major force again and it will be a big disappointment if they don’t brush aside Bournemouth.
The Red Devils are chasing a fourth consecutive Premier League victory, while the Cherries have lost their last couple without scoring.
Punters can get 21/20 for a home win to nil and that is an obvious option for our first Man Utd vs Bournemouth prediction.
Manchester United Odds
United cruised to a 3-0 triumph over Nottingham Forest here and then showed they can also dig deep to prevail 1-0 at Wolves.
Wanderers matched the Red Devils in many ways, but Erik ten Hag’s team created the better chances and Marcus Rashford put one away on 76 minutes.
The in-form England forward had been benched for arriving late at training but made amends with a neat finish.
Rashford had the ball in the back of the net again soon after but that effort was ruled out by VAR for handball.
Even so, David De Gea made a good late save to make it five straight wins in all competitions, with clean sheets kept in the last three.
“I think for a team that’s developing – we’re striving to be the best we can be – you have to be able to win games in that fashion and I’m really pleased we managed to do it,” Rashford told MUTV.
“It’s a difficult place for us to come to play our football and to win games, and we didn’t necessarily play our best football but we got three points.
“They’re a difficult team to break down, I think at that moment they were five at the back as well, so there was not much space to play with, but we managed to find the gaps and make it count.”
Rashford impressed for England at Qatar 2022 and has scored in three successive games for United for the first time in three years.
“It’s a nice feeling for a forward to have that happening for them,” beamed the 25-year-old.
Looking at the Man Utd vs Bournemouth odds, we can see no reason to desert Rashford in the first goalscorer market at 7/2.
Last United line-up: De Gea, Malacia, Varane, Shaw, Wan-Bissaka, Fernandes, Eriksen, Casemiro, Antony, Garnacho, Martial.
Erik ten Hag should have Argentina World Cup winner Lisandro Martinez available. Diogo Dalot is making progress from his hamstring strain, while Scott McTominay (illness) should return to the squad.
Bournemouth Odds
Bournemouth are just a couple of points above the relegation zone after going down 2-0 at Chelsea and then losing to Crystal Palace by the same scoreline on home turf.
Cherries boss Gary O’Neil rated Saturday’s loss to the Eagles as the worst performance he had seen since taking charge.
Having signed off for the World Cup with a 3-0 victory versus Everton, O’Neil feels the lay-off came at a bad time for his team.
He said: “The boys have missed a lot of training recently with illnesses, we’ve had a couple coming back from injury as well, we lack rhythm.
“The squad’s not in quite such a good place as it was before the break. We had rhythm, we had boys that were used to playing, that were training every day.
“The last few weeks have been a bit messy in that aspect for us, but no excuse, for sure. It’s my responsibility to make sure it looks much better than that next time we play.”
O’Neil may need the upcoming FA Cup weekend to regroup before key games against Brentford, Nottingham Forest and Brighton.
For now, we’re taking 23/4 for them to complete a hat-trick of 2-0 defeats in our Man Utd vs Bournemouth betting tips.
Last Bournemouth line-up: Travers, Kelly, Smith, Senesi, Anthony, Zemura, Cook, Lerma, Billing, Solanke, Moore.
Bournemouth are once again set to be without influential midfielder Marcus Tavernier, who is still out injured. Goalkeeper Neto has returned to training and continues to make progress, while David Brooks is on the verge of returning to the group after a hamstring injury.
Additional stats
[jsEntainMatchAnalytics match_id=”300369″]
[jsEntainMatchHead2Head match_id=”300369″]
Join bwin today and receive up to £20 money back as a FreeBet if your first wager (3+ selections at odds of 1/2 (1.5) or greater) is a loser! Terms and conditions apply.
