Jose Mourinho’s men were beaten 2-1 by their local rivals at the weekend, with goals from David Silva and Nicolas Otamendi proving decisive in a game which leaves United trailing table-toppers City by 11 points. It is still relatively early in the campaign – there are, after all, still 22 fixtures left to fulfil – but such a margin could well be insurmountable for the Red Devils, who realistically needed to defeat Pep Guardiola’s charges in order to keep their championship hopes alive. There is now very little room for error for United going forward, and Mourinho will also have at least half an eye on those teams below them – Chelsea remain just three points behind, while Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur all closed the gap on United at the weekend. The race for the title may be virtually over in December, but the battle for the three remaining Champions League qualification places could go right down to the wire.
Bournemouth held Crystal Palace to a 2-2 draw in their last encounter, with Christian Benteke’s missed penalty in second-half stoppage time ensuring Eddie Howe’s side departed Selhurst Park with a point. The Cherries were second best for much of the game but ultimately did enough to avoid defeat, which was important ahead of an extremely tough run for the Cherries. Bournemouth remain three points clear of the relegation zone ahead of their trip to the northwest, but Howe and his coaching staff will treat this match as a free hit with the odds stacked against them.
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United will have to make do without Paul Pogba (suspension), Michael Carrick (heart), Marouane Fellaini (knee) and Eric Bailly (groin), while Marcos Rojo will have to be assessed after sustaining a head injury in the derby defeat by Manchester City. Phil Jones could return to the heart of the backline alongside either Chris Smalling or Victor Lindelof, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic could be in line for a start after another disappointing display from Romelu Lukaku at the weekend. With the hectic festive period on the horizon, Mourinho may opt to rest the likes of Nemanja Matic and Antonio Valencia, who have both played almost every minute of every Premier League game so far in 2017/18.
Bournemouth will be unable to call upon the services of Brad Smith (hip) and Tyrone Mings (back), but Howe has no fresh injury concerns after Saturday’s stalemate in south London. Jermain Defoe will probably be replaced in the starting XI despite his two goals at Selhurst, with Callum Wilson set to partner Josh King at the top of the pitch as the Cherries look to manage their squad ahead of upcoming meetings with Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and West Ham United within the space of a couple of weeks.
Taking everything into account, it is difficult to look past a United triumph on Wednesday night. This is unlikely to be a classic encounter and Bournemouth will certainly give it a go, but the Red Devils have enough quality to emerge victorious even if Mourinho rotates his line-up. A home win with both teams to find the back of the net could be an astute option for this one, while Ibrahimovic has a decent chance of scoring in the Premier League for the first time this season.
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