Manchester United vs Bournemouth. Premier League.
Old TraffordAttendance74,798.
Wednesday 13 December 2017 18:37, UK
Manchester United will be looking to bounce back from their Manchester derby defeat when they host Bournemouth at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.
United were beaten 2-1 by Premier League leaders City on Super Sunday, a game which saw their rivals stretch the gap at the top of the table to 11 points with just 16 games gone.
"When you lose, you probably have a little bit more desire to win," said United manager Jose Mourinho ahead of Bournemouth's visit.
"Nobody likes to lose once, nobody wants to lose twice. I think that's something that belongs to every team in the world. When you lose a match the next one, you have that little bit extra to give."
Bournemouth head to Old Trafford on the back of just one defeat from their past four Premier League matches, although three of them have been draws.
"In the previous two seasons we have got some good results in these games and they have helped to define our seasons, so we are looking for the same again," said manager Eddie Howe.
"It can really lift confidence levels to a point where it has a really positive effect on the rest of your season, there will be no surrender from us."
Midfielder Paul Pogba continues to be absent for Manchester United through suspension and centre-back Marcos Rojo is a doubt.
France international Pogba is in the middle of a three-match domestic ban and joins captain Michael Carrick and defender Eric Bailly on the sidelines.
Marouane Fellaini is pushing for a return in midfield after a knee complaint, while Rojo will be assessed after sustaining a cut to his head in the defeat to Manchester City.
Bournemouth will have right-back Adam Smith available again following suspension, while midfielder Harry Arter could come back into contention having been an unused substitute in the 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace.
Defender Tyrone Mings is to see a specialist after suffering a problem in his recovery from a back problem. Goalkeeper Adam Federici (knee) is back in light training for the Cherries, while defender Brad Smith (hip) also continues his rehabilitation.
Manchester United have won five of their six home meetings with Bournemouth in all competitions, with the exception being a 1-1 draw in this fixture last season.
United's 40-game unbeaten run at Old Trafford came to an end in their 2-1 derby defeat to Manchester City on Sunday (now W29 D11 L1) - In fact, Man City are the only side to have defeated Manchester United at home since February 2016, doing so twice.
Manchester United have not lost successive home matches in all competitions since January 2014 (v Spurs in the Premier League and Swansea in the FA Cup).
Jermain Defoe has scored against United in the Premier League for both Spurs and West Ham United. Only eight players have previously scored against United for 3+ clubs in the competition - Les Ferdinand, Darren Bent (both four clubs), Chris Sutton, Brian Deane, Nicolas Anelka, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Yakubu and James Milner (all three).
On paper this looks easy for United, but I watched them against Brighton and they struggled. They miss Paul Pogba, of course, but when I watched it against City, I was just thinking 'why aren't you having a go?' United looked petrified.
There are ways of losing, and if I was a United fan, I would want to see more. Bournemouth might get a bit of a backlash and won't have enough to challenge them.
Paul predicts: 3-1 (6/1 with Sky Bet)
Manchester United are well odds-on to bounce back from their derby defeat at 1/4 with Sky Bet, seeing Bournemouth go up against odds of 11/1 while the draw is priced at 19/4. Romelu Lukaku heads the first goalscorer betting at 5/1 despite his drought, while Jermain Defoe is enhanced from 10/1 to 14/1 in Sky Bet's Price Boosts.
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