Bournemouth vs Manchester United
Premier League, 2015-16
Date: Saturday, 12 December, 2015
Time: 17:30 BST
Venue: Dean Court, Bournemouth
Pressure from the fans on Louis van Gaal will intensify this weekend if Manchester United fail to win Saturday evening’s Premier League game at newly-promoted Bournemouth.
Many United fans have begun to turn their back on the Dutch manager in recent weeks for the low entertainment football and more recently, the results.
The Red Devils have drawn their last two Premier League games – 1-1 at Leicester City and 0-0 at home to West Ham this past weekend. Van Gaal’s side forced only one save out of the Hammers keeper in 90 minutes at Old Trafford.
To add further disgruntlement among the fans, United were eliminated from the Champions League on Tuesday night after a 3-2 defeat at Wolfsburg.
Bournemouth weren’t in action midweek and are coming off the back of a 1-0 win at the Premier League champions, so expect Eddie Howe’s side to be buoyed from them their previous result and better rested. Depending on whether you back United or expect them to draw again, you can use the free tips on bettingexpert.com to make smarter bets and profit from the game (at least someone should).
Both sides have a few key injuries though the Cherries have been dealing with theirs for a lot longer. Chris Smalling and Matteo Darmian both picked up knocks midweek for the visitors.
Bournemouth vs Manchester United Team News
Bournemouth team news
Artur Boruc made his return to the team last weekend and kept the club’s second clean sheet of the season. It was only the Pole’s second appearance since the start of October due to injury. Backup goalkeeper Adam Federici remains out with an ankle injury.
Summer signing Tyrone Mings managed only 11 minutes of Premier League action before picking up a knee injury that could rule the full-back out for the entire season. Tommy Elphick hasn’t played since the first five games of the season due to an ankle injury and won’t be fit for this one either. Sylvain Distin missed the win at Chelsea through illness but should be back on Saturday.
A knee injury also rules out Max Gradel for the long-term whilst Marc Pugh could be available for the first time in five matches.
Callum Wilson could also be out for the remainder of the season so former United youngster Joshua King leads the line for Bournemouth.
Manchester United team news
Chris Smalling and Matteo Darmian picked up knocks on Tuesday – it has not been confirmed whether either will be available for the weekend. United will be down to the bare bones if they are unavailable, with full-backs Luke Shaw and Antonio Valencia out for the long-term, and centre-backs Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones also out injured.
Morgan Schneiderlin should be available once again and whilst Ander Herrera is back in training, this match may come too soon for the Spaniard.
There is no further news on Wayne Rooney’s ankle injury but it was initially thought he could be available for this game.
Bournemouth vs Manchester United possible lineups
Bournemouth: Artur Boruc; Simon Francis, Steve Cook, Sylvain Distin, Charlie Daniels; Matt Ritchie, Dan Gosling, Andrew Surman, Harry Arter, Junior Stanislas; Joshua King
Manchester United: David de Gea; Guillermo Varela, Paddy McNair, Daley Blind, Ashley Young; Morgan Schneiderlin, Michael Carrick, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata, Memphis Depay; Anthony Martial
Prediction: Bournemouth 1-2 Manchester United
