Manchester United v Bournemouth: Back goals at both ends in 13/8 Bet Builder | OneFootball

Manchester United v BournemouthMonday, 20:00Live on Sky Sports

Differing fortunes for United and Bournemouth

Last Monday's preview went pretty much as expected, a Manchester United side that have been scoring regularly away from home thrashing a dreadful Wolves side at Molineux with their three stars - Bryan Mbuemo, Bruno Fernandes and Matheus Cunha - all registering at least one goal involvement, which meant our 11/4 best bet was a winner.

That victory moved United to within one point of the top four positions, which seems hard to believe given their inconsistency and some of the performances they've produced this season.

But just imagine if they had have beaten 10-man Everton at Old Trafford, and beaten relegation-threatened West Ham, also on home soil - as they really ought to have done - in recent weeks, then we really could have been looking at a United team firmly in the title race.

As things stand Ruben Amorim is likely targeting a Top 4 Finish, for which they can be backed at 3/1, so a win over Bournemouth on Monday night would be very welcome.

The Cherries are out of form. Andoni Iraola's men hit the dizzy heights of second in the table after a great start to the new season, but they've now dropped to 14th following a run of six games without a win. Away from home they've failed to win any of their last five - including against newly-promoted Leeds and Sunderland - and alarmingly they've conceded an average of exactly three goals per game in those five matches.

At 28/1 they don't appear to be in any danger of being relegated, but a defeat at Old Trafford followed by a poor festive season - they play Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham just after Christmas - would leave Bournemouth far closer to the relegation zone than they would like.

Home side fancied to pick off out-of-form Cherries

Manchester United are 4/5 favourites to win this game, and given the respective form of both teams, I think that price is more than fair.

True, United's form at Old Trafford of late has been a bit patchy with those games against Everton and West Ham resulting in a defeat and a draw but prior to that Amorim's men had won four on the spin at Old Trafford this season, scoring at least two goals each time.

And as we mentioned last week, United away from home have been scoring goals for fun. They've now scored at least two goals in each of their last five away games, so this Man United team really do have goals in them, largely thanks to their star trio, Mbuemo, Fernandes and Cunha.

But it's the form of Bournemouth and their star man Antoine Semenyo that really raises the confidence levels in a home win. The Cherrie are without a win in six games, and Semenyo is on a run of 10 matches for club and country without a goal. It's over 10 weeks since he last found the back of the net.

So I'll make a home win one of my bets, as I have done in my Opta stats section below, but if you disagree then you can back the Cherries at 31/10 to take all three points or the Draw at 3/1.

Below you can see a chart showing the percentage chance for each outcome using the Betfair Exchange Match Odds market.

In-form Bruno can help land Bet Builder

Despite fancying United to record a win, I do envisage this game being a bit chaotic - as most games are when the Red Devils are involved - and I can easily see Bournemouth getting on the scoresheet.

Amorim's men have kept just one clean sheet in their 15 Premier League games this season, with only rock bottom Wolves keeping fewer (0), and they even conceded two at Grimsby Town in the EFL Cup. And with all of Bournemouth' last five away games witnessing at least four goals (an average of 4.6 per game to be precise) I'm definitely going to include Both Teams to Score and Over 2.5 Goals in a Bet Builder for my main bet of the game.

And out of the quartet of star men to choose from, it's Bruno Fernandes that I'm adding to score or assist on Monday night. United's captain has been in fine form of late, being involved in eight goals (two goals, six assists) in his last eight Premier League games. He remains on penalty duty, and he appears to take most of United's set pieces, so it's not difficult to envisage him getting another goal involvement.

The Bet Builder pays out at 13/8 so it's not the biggest price in the world, but then again, in my opinion all three legs of the bet have an excellent chance of landing.

The picks of the Opta-stats based bets

Bet #1 - Back United to take advantage of out-of-form Cherries

The Stat

Manchester United have lost just one of their last nine Premier League games (W5 D3), going down 1-0 at home to Everton. They've won more points in these nine games (18) than they had in their previous 17 matches combined (16 - W4 D4 L9). Bournemouth are winless in their last six Premier League matches (D2 L4), last enduring a longer winless streak between December and February in the 2023-24 campaign (seven games).

The Bet

Bet #2 - Back Cherries main man to have a trio of shots

The Stat

Among players to play 2,000+ minutes in the Premier League for Bournemouth, Antoine Semenyo has had the most shots (3.1) and shots on target (1.2) per 90 minutes of any player. The Ghanaian has also netted in each of his last two games against Manchester United (two goals).

The Bet