Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said that seeing Liverpool FC clinch the title last week stung a little bit. No doubt he’ll use it as motivation to try and get his side up to the level of the Reds, and a their noisy neighbors Manchester City next season.
Up next is a visit from AFC Bournemouth, the table’s penultimate side. It seems like a breeze on paper, but remember, the Cherries claimed the reverse fixture, which serves as a perfect paradigm of United’s overall campaign- beating the big boys with regularity, but losing to the bottom feeders as well.
Team News for Both Sides
United come into this one red hot, having won four of their last five, and now sporting a record of 14-10-8. That’s a far cry from where they were in December or January, when some supporters were calling for a Solskjaer sacking.
The Norwegian’s side has a nearly clean bill of health in this one, only fringe players Axel Tuanzebe and Phil Jones are injury doubts. Neither would likely feature in a league fixture right now anyway.
As for the Cherries, they have been injury ravaged most of the season, and that really tells the story of why they find themselves where they are right now.
Left back Charlie Daniels remains on the shelf with a serious knee injury while Simon Francis is also out. Leading scorer Callum Wilson will also be unavailable, due to a suspension. Former United player and supposed current transfer target Joshua King returned from an ankle injury in midweek, but only registered a single shot.
Perhaps the forward will have a larger role here, and they’ll need him to provide a scoring threat in order to stand any chance of pulling off the uspet.
Manchester United vs AFC Bournemouth FYIs
Kickoff: July 4, 8:15 pm, Old Trafford
United Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
TV Channel/Live Stream: BT Sport 1 (UK) FuboTV (US)
Referee: Mike Dean
Form Guide: Bournemouth LDLLL United WWWDW
Position: United 5th, 52 points Brighton 19th, 27 points
Prediction: United 2, Bournemouth 0
Bruno Fernandes is perhaps the most in form player in all of the Premier League right now. (But Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic is right up there with him) He can make sweet music together with Paul Pogba, and that is probably why Asst. Coach and former United midfielder Michael Carrick rejected the concept of anyone thinking they couldn’t.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for Chicago Tribune.com, on Twitter and his cat on Instagram.
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