Bournemouth vs Manchester United

Manchester United’s hopes of returning to the Champions League after a season-long absence are on the line as they meet bottom-half Premier League outfit Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.

Despite suffering back-to-back two-goal margin defeats in the build-up to this fixture, Bournemouth will take the field without any pressure after securing Premier League survival with two games to spare. Gary O’Neil’s men have been a synonym for inconsistency at home in recent months, with none of their last seven home league matches ending as a draw (W3, L4). But if you’re looking for a common denominator, five of those six results (wins/losses) have seen the winner on the day prevail via multi-goal margins. Bournemouth wouldn’t mind a more evenly-contested encounter this weekend, knowing they’ve lost eight of their 11 meetings with Man Utd in the Premier League (W2, D1). The ‘Cherries’ can draw some confidence from winning their most recent home league H2H in November 2019.

On the other hand, Manchester United consolidated their top-four bid with a 2-0 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend, ending an uneventful run of consecutive 1-0 defeats on the road. Indeed, they’ve been the epitome of ‘Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde,’ depending on the playing ground, with only 36% of their Premier League points this season coming away from home (24/66). Erik ten Hag’s men have managed just one win on their last six league travels (D1, L4), failing to find the back of the net in each defeat. Scoring has been a problem for the ‘Red Devils’ this term, as only Aston Villa (48) have netted fewer Premier League goals than Man Utd (51) in 2022/23. Considering only 41% of those strikes have come on the road, traveling supporters have every reason for concern.