Manchester Utd v Bournemouth
12.30 - 4/3/2017 - Old Trafford, Manchester
A late Zlatan Ibrahimovic header secured the League Cup for Man United on Sunday evening, and on Saturday they welcome Bournemouth to Old Trafford, where they seek to extend their home unbeaten run to 20 games across all competition. Bournemouth suffered a 2-1 loss to West Brom last time out, and with the Cherries a mere four points above the relegation spots Eddie Howe will have a real battle on his hands to take anything away from this fixture.
Man Utd have been very good at home against middle-third sides, but they haven’t been hugely prolific. They’ve lost only once at Old Trafford this season against such opposition, since when they’ve gone W4-D3-L0, but the last six in that undefeated run have seen fewer than three goals. They might find more success against Bournemouth, who have conceded 30 goals in 13 away matches this season, the worst record in the league. They’ve lost four on the trot, conceding 12 in the process, and they’ve recorded only one win against a current top-six side this season, and even in that win over Liverpool they conceded three goals. As such, this will be a good opportunity for United’s forwards to fill their boots after a few lean games against middling sides.
Man U have won the last two games between these two sides by at least two goals and five of their last six home wins in all competitions were by more than one goal. We see them covering the -1 handicap comfortably.
