PREVIEW: Manchester United set sights on top five as they host Bournemouth | OneFootball

Manchester United welcome Bournemouth to Old Trafford on Monday evening knowing a win would take them up to fifth in the Premier League table.

Ruben Amorim’s men have failed to win either of their last two games at home at home, so will be looking to avoid a third consecutive match in which points are dropped.

United lost against Everton 1-0 and drew 1-1 against West Ham at Old Trafford, and they will be hoping to avoid a similar fate against the Cherries.

The visitors have enjoyed pre-Christmas matches at Old Trafford, beating the hosts 3-0 during the Decembers of both 2023 and 2024.

Confidence at United will be high going into this outing, though, after hammering Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-1 at Molineux last week.

The Red Devils are in eighth place in the table following results around the grounds this weekend.

They are just three points off the top four and a win at Old Trafford would see them climb to fifth place on level points with Chelsea, who are substantially ahead on goal difference.

Three Manchester United players – Bryan Mbeumo, Amad and Noussair Mazraoui – have been called up to take part in the Africa Cup of Nations by their respective countries, but are still available for now.

They will be without Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire through injury. Benjamin Šeško’s recovery is nearing, but it might still be too soon for him to feature in the starting line-up.

Meanwhile, the visitors travel to Old Trafford seeking their third consecutive win over the Red Devils away from home.

The Cherries will head into the back on the back of a goalless draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Last time they faced Manchester United, they drew 1-1 at the Vitality Stadium in April, but beat them at Old Trafford 3-0 last December.

Andoni Iraola’s list of absentees is still sizeable: Ben Gannon-Doak, Ryan Christie and Matai Akinmboni are out through injuries while Marcos Senesi is a doubt. Lewis Cook will also miss the game through suspension.

Should Bournemouth take all three points on a third consecutive trip to Old Trafford, they could jump from 15th place to as high as 10th in the Premier League, though they’d need to win by a sizeable scoreline to overtake Brighton on goal-difference.

The match will be live on Sky Sports Premier League with a kick-off time of 20:00 GMT.

Predicted line-ups