Relegation-threatened Bournemouth make the long journey to Old Trafford on Saturday to face a Manchester United side on the brink of breaking into the Premier League's top four.
Bournemouth lie 19th in the table on 27 points - one adrift of safety - whereas United are two behind fourth-placed Chelsea, having amassed 52 points from 32 matches.
Match preview
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Having gone into the coronavirus-enforced shutdown off the back of a stellar run of form, questions were naturally raised as to whether Man United would have been able to keep that momentum going after a three-month break.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men have answered those questions in perfect fashion and have now gone 15 games unbeaten in all competitions, and the Red Devils will be aiming to win their fourth game on the bounce when they play host to an out-of-sorts Bournemouth side this weekend.
United built on their FA Cup quarter-final success over Norwich City with a dominant 3-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion in midweek, with Bruno Fernandes bagging a brace after Mason Greenwood broke the deadlock on the South Coast.
Furthermore, Solskjaer's men look well on their way to making Old Trafford the fortress it once was in the days of Sir Alex Ferguson - United have gone five games without conceding on home soil and have notched up 13 goals in their last four home outings.
With Chelsea and Leicester City both suffering defeats last time out, the United faithful will certainly feel that their side are capable of a top-four finish for only the third time in seven seasons, although their current fifth-placed standing may prove to be enough for a Champions League berth should Manchester City's European ban be upheld.
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In contrast, Bournemouth have shown little signs of revival since the English top flight resumed, and the Cherries were condemned to their fourth defeat in a row as Newcastle United revelled in a 4-1 victory at the Vitality Stadium on Wednesday.
Eddie Howe was without his top scorer Callum Wilson, but even if the Englishman had featured in this fixture it would have made little difference as Bournemouth's defensive frailties were exposed once again.
The Cherries are now winless in seven since their 2-1 victory over fellow strugglers Aston Villa at the start of February, and they have lost six of their last seven fixtures in the Premier League - the outlier being a 2-2 draw with Chelsea at the Vitality.
In fact, Frank Lampard's side were the last team that Bournemouth managed to triumph against away from home, with the Cherries currently on a seven-game losing streak on their travels, and Howe's men have only amassed 13 points on the road all season.
However, Bournemouth did manage to record a 1-0 victory over Solskjaer's side when the sides locked horns in the reverse fixture, with former United protege Joshua King netting the only goal of the game back in November.
Manchester United Premier League form: WDWDWW
Manchester United form (all competitions): WWDWWW
Bournemouth Premier League form: LDLLLL
Team News
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Wilson will serve the second of his two-match ban for accumulating 10 yellow cards and is unavailable for the trip to Manchester.
Bournemouth otherwise have no fresh fitness concerns heading into Saturday's clash, with Simon Francis and Charlie Daniels continuing their recoveries from knee injuries.
Lloyd Kelly was handed his first Premier League start for the Cherries in their loss to Newcastle, but it is hard to imagine the 21-year-old making the starting XI again for this one.
Meanwhile, Solskjaer has a near fully-fit squad to pick from, with the only concerns for the Norwegian being Axel Tuanzebe and Phil Jones, neither of whom would have been likely to start anyway.
The resurgence of Paul Pogba has been a shining light for United fans in the last few weeks, and the Frenchman's midfield partnership with Nemanja Matic is likely to keep both Scott McTominay and Fred on the substitutes bench once again.
Should Solskjaer look to freshen things up after a three-day rest, Daniel James is an option up top, but Greenwood is unlikely to be dropped after his impressive opener against Brighton.
Man United possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; Pogba, Matic; Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford; Martial
Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Ramsdale; Stacey, Mepham, Ake, Smith; Brooks, L. Cook, Lerma, Gosling, Stanislas; King
We say: Manchester United 4-0 Bournemouth
If Bournemouth do not start picking up wins again soon, they may as well start making preparations for life in the second tier next season. The Cherries are now facing an away fixture against an in-form United side packed with attacking talent, and we cannot see any other outcome than a comfortable victory for the Champions League-chasing Red Devils.
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Manchester United win with a probability of 69.37%. A draw had a probability of 18.7% and a win for Bournemouth had a probability of 11.97%.
The most likely scoreline for a Manchester United win was 2-0 with a probability of 12.5%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (11.58%) and 2-1 (9.58%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.88%), while for a Bournemouth win it was 0-1 (4.11%). The actual scoreline of 5-2 was predicted with a 0.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Manchester United would win this match.
