Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Artur Boruc is expected to continue in goal for Bournemouth despite an ongoing knee problem, while Adam Federici and Mark Pugh have recovered from injury.
Lee Tomlin and on-loan Christian Atsu have returned to training but need to build up their fitness levels.
Manchester United are without nine players after Chris Smalling and Matteo Darmian suffered injuries in midweek.
Bastian Schweinsteiger is suspended, but fellow midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin is fit after a hip injury.
Marcos Rojo and Antonio Valencia are sidelined after recent surgeries on shoulder and foot problems respectively, while Wayne Rooney, Phil Jones, Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw remain out.
Editor’s Note: Bournemouth caused the biggest headlines last weekend with their away win at Stamford Bridge but they don’t have time to rest on their laurels as they play hosts to a Manchester United side who were dumped out of the Champions League on Tuesday
Bournemouth may have had a large slice of luck last Saturday as Glenn Murray was in an offside position before heading home but it was nothing short of what they deserved and after a dramatic comeback a fortnight ago against Everton with every week that passes they look more and more like a Premier League side
Plaudits must go to Eddie Howe as it would have been very easy to change style but he has stayed true to his philosophy and it is now starting to reap rewards especially as his players grow in confidence with each point they pick up along the way
In terms of confidence it’s not particularly high at Manchester United. Defeat in Wolfsburg on Tuesday coupled with a bore draw at home to West Ham last Saturday which was the fourth that they have registered this season means that there are loud of murmurs of discontent around Old Trafford from former players and fans alike.
Louis Van Gaal has been accused of killing Manchester United with his negative style of Football, the best way to counter act that argument if you’re not going to play the ‘United Way’ is to win. At least that way you can point to results and dampen any criticism but the problem for Van Gaal is that their lack of goals is becoming an issue. Although they haven’t lost in their last 7 league games 5 of them have been draws and they still made hard work of beating Watford last month
The tactics against Leicester were fairly negative as he set out not to lose and failure to break down West Ham at home last Saturday had a lot of fans feeling frustrated. Somehow they are still only 3 points off the top and could actually go top of the table tomorrow night if results go their way
With United drawing regular blanks I wouldn’t necessarily say they are hot favourites for tomorrow evening’s clash but United are going to have to bounce back from their Champions League exit and offer something more than they have lately. I’m going to take a bit of a risk here and think the game will end up a draw.
