Man Utd vs Bournemouth Prediction

Can Andoni Iraola’s side manage back-to-back Premier League wins at Old Trafford? We look ahead to Sunday’s clash with our Man Utd vs Bournemouth prediction and preview.

Man Utd vs Bournemouth Stats: The Key Insights

• Manchester United are backed for victory by the Opta supercomputer, winning 50.1% of pre-match simulations.
• United will be in the bottom half of the table at Christmas for the first time since 1989-90 if they fail to win this clash.
• Bruno Fernandes has been involved in seven goals in his last seven appearances (4 goals, 3 assists) after managing just two assists in the first nine Premier League games.

Ruben Amorim saw the best and worst of Manchester United this week but will hope to focus on the positives when his side host Bournemouth on Sunday.

United stunned fierce rivals Manchester City with a last-gasp 2-1 victory inspired by Amad Diallo. A dismal defensive performance then resulted in a 4-3 defeat at Tottenham in Thursday’s EFL Cup quarter-final.

Diallo won the penalty for Bruno Fernandes to convert against City, before rounding Ederson and firing United to an unlikely smash-and-grab triumph over their neighbours. The Ivorian winger, who also found the net against Spurs, has now either scored or assisted a goal in each of his last five Premier League starts (1 goal, 5 assists).

Playmaker Fernandes has also started to find form after scoring four goals and assisting three in his last seven league outings. He had managed just two assists and failed to find the net in his first nine Premier League games of this campaign.

Improvements are still desperately needed, though, considering United would be in the bottom half of the table at Christmas for the first time since 1989-90 (12th) if they fail to win on Sunday at Old Trafford.

Though some of the struggles can be apportioned to former manager Erik ten Hag, Amorim still has a lot to work on. United have allowed a higher share of their goals from corners than any other side in the Premier League this season (42% – 8/19), while four of the seven goals conceded under Amorim have been from such situations.

Son Heung-min curled a corner directly over backup goalkeeper Altay Bayindir in the Spurs defeat, too, as United’s suspect defending highlighted the significant task at the hands of Amorim.

Bournemouth have travelled well in recent weeks, winning their last two top-flight away games against Ipswich Town and Wolves. That is their best run since a four-game streak in December 2023, where the third win coincidentally also came against Man Utd.

Andoni Iraola’s side salvaged a 1-1 draw with West Ham in their last outing as substitute Enes Ünal’s stunning 90th-minute free-kick cancelled out Lucas Paquetá’s penalty just three minutes prior.

Ünal levelled the scores against Ipswich the week before, again from the bench, with Bournemouth managing eight Premier League goals from substitutes this term. That is the most such strikes this season, and their 17 since the start of the last campaign can only be narrowly bettered by Brighton’s 18.

United’s defence could be up against it here, too, given only Man City (282) have attempted more shots than Bournemouth’s 270 in the league this season. Iraola’s men amassed 29 of those against West Ham, their second most in a Premier League game behind the 32 efforts they managed against Sheffield United in March.

Ryan Christie was involved in 11 of those 29 attempts against Julen Lopetegui’s side on Monday, firing six shots and creating five chances. The Scotland midfielder is just the third Bournemouth player to manage 5+ shots and chances created in a Premier League game, after Jordon Ibe versus Brighton in January 2018 and Josh King against Chelsea in January 2019.

Christie will be expected to continue in a midfield pivot with Lewis Cook, though Marcos Senesi, Marcus Tavernier, Julián Araujo, Luis Sinisterra and Alex Scott remain out as long-term absentees for Sunday’s visitors.

Marcus Rashford’s availability for Sunday is uncertain, and the same applies to Victor Lindelöf, who was forced off against Spurs in the first half. Luke Shaw and Mason Mount are definitely out, while Matthijs de Ligt is also a doubt.

Man Utd vs Bournemouth Head-to-Head

United failed to win either of their Premier League meetings with Bournemouth last season, losing 3-0 at Old Trafford in December last year.

Dominic Solanke, now of Spurs, Philip Billing and Senesi were all on target in that Bournemouth victory last term, a result somewhat bucking the usual trend.

Indeed, Bournemouth have lost five of their last seven away games in the league at Old Trafford (W1 D1), with their sole victory coming in the 2023-24 season.

Man Utd vs Bournemouth Prediction

The Opta supercomputer favours the home side on Sunday as United triumphed in 48.1% of 10,000 pre-match simulations.

Bournemouth still hold a 26.0% chance of victory in the same data-led sims, while the draw was rated at 25.9%.

Man Utd vs Bournemouth Predicted Lineups

Opta Power Rankings

The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system. They assign an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams. This score is on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.

Ahead of kick-off this weekend, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.

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