STAR PREVIEW: Bournemouth v Man Utd

[dropcap]B[/dropcap]ournemouth play Man U for the first time EVER in the league on Saturday which is testament to just how far the south coast team have climbed up the footballing pyramid.

Bournemouth’s December/Christmas fixture list looked hellish but they made the best possible start with a 1-0 victory against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last weekend thanks to Glenn Murray’s 82nd minute goal.

After this match, Bournemouth are away to West Brom and then at home to Palace on Boxing Day before two tricky away fixtures – at Arsenal on the 28th December and Leicester on the 2nd January.

They’ve probably picked the best possible time to face Man U who are struggling to find the back of the net (only 5 goals from their last 6 Premier League games) and who this week were dumped out of the Champions League at the hands of Wolfsburg. It’s quite possible there will still be some fatigue in the camp after that entertaining, but ultimately futile encounter. Man U are without nine players after Chris Smalling and Matteo Darmian suffered injuries in midweek and join (amongst others) captain Wayne Rooney, Phil Jones, Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw on the non runner list.

The fact that Man U are as big as 5/4 for this match says a lot. Imagine how it would have been priced up pre-season – surely Man U would have been odds-on against the Premier League debutants?

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe said: “We know how difficult this game will be, we know the level we have to get to to compete. All I would say is that hopefully if we can match those levels (from the Chelsea game) again, it is in our hands. We are proud to be hosting Manchester United. It’s a big game in this club’s history.”

Bournemouth v Man Utd
Premier League
17:30 Sky Sports 1 / Sky Sports 1 HD

HEAD TO HEAD RECORD
(Maximum 10 matches)
Feb 1989 FA CUP Man Utd 1-0 Bournemouth
Feb 1989 FA CUP Bournemouth 1-1 Man Utd
Jan 1985 FA CUP Man Utd 3-0 Bournemouth
Jan 1984 FA CUP Bournemouth 2-0 Man Utd
Jan 1983 LEAGUE CUP Man Utd 2-0 Bournemouth
Jan 1983 LEAGUE CUP Bournemouth 2-2 Man Utd
Mar 1957 FA CUP Bournemouth 1-2 Man Utd
Jan 1949 FA CUP Man Utd 6-0 Bournemouth

The Cherries were on a slippery slope a few weeks ago with four straight losses in the Premier League – and two of those were by thumping 5-1 margins. However, the win against Chelsea and recent draws with Swansea and dramatically against Everton suggest order has been restored and given Man U’s injury list I have to be backing Bournemouth to pull off the win at around 23/10 with Star Sports.

RECOMMENDED BETS (scale of 1-50 points)

BACK BOURNEMOUTH for 12 points at around 23/10 with Star Sports

RETURN SINCE START OF WORLD CUP: PROFIT 68.06 POINTS

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