Comments and predictions for MU vs Bournemouth: Victory for the Red Devils

Latest MU vs Bournemouth squad information

As happened at the Etihad, Marcus Rashford was not in the Manchester United squad for the EFL Cup tie with Tottenham; the England international has publicly expressed his desire to leave, but Ruben Amorim insisted after the game that there could still be a chance for him to return to Old Trafford.

Rashford's status for Sunday's game will remain a mystery until the final squad is announced, and the same goes for Victor Lindelof, who picked up an injury in the first half of Thursday's defeat.

Luke Shaw (calf) and Mason Mount (foot) are all but certain to miss out for Amorim, while Matthijs de Ligt missed Thursday's game through illness and is also a doubt.

Bournemouth, by contrast, have no injury concerns following their draw with West Ham, but manager Andoni Iraola will still be without five players for Sunday's game.

Luis Sinisterra (thigh), Alex Scott (knee), Julian Araujo (thigh), Marcos Senesi (thigh) and Marcus Tavernier (thigh) all continue to be absent, with Sinisterra alone said to have a chance of returning before 2025 arrives.

Enner Valencia's superb free-kick on Monday night may have prompted Iraola to consider a change in attack, especially as Evanilson has gone five Premier League games without a goal, while Valencia has scored in two consecutive games from the bench.

Latest expected lineup for MU vs Bournemouth

Manchester United:

Onana; Yoro, Maguire, Martinez; Diallo, Ugarte, Mainoo, Dalot; Fernandes, Garnacho; Hojlund

Bournemouth:

Kepa; Smith, Zabarnyi, Huijsen, Kerkez; Cook, Christie; Semenyo, Kluivert, Ouattara; Unal

Latest football commentary on MU vs Bournemouth

Disaster struck for both Manchester United and Tottenham on Thursday night, as after Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham took a three-goal lead in the EFL Cup quarter-final, two Fraser Forster mistakes gave the Red Devils two second-half chances to come back.

However, Forster's errors were then redeemed by opposite goalkeeper Altay Bayindir, with the Turkish player appealing for a foul after Son Heung-min's corner flew straight into the net, and a late header from Jonny Evans was no longer meaningful.

However, coach Ruben Amorim remained calm and seemed quite optimistic as he shook hands with Postecoglou on the sidelines, perhaps still enjoying some of the afterglow from last weekend's dramatic 2-1 win over Manchester City, although this result did not do much for the team's position in the Premier League.

Manchester United, the 20-time English champions, enter the final weekend before Christmas in 13th place, although they are still closer to the Champions League places than the relegation zone and could move into the top half of the table with good results this weekend.

However, without a win, Man United will spend Christmas in the bottom half of the table for the first time in the Premier League era, but scoring at least two goals in each of their last home games in all competitions still gives Amorim's side confidence.

Bournemouth also had a late result in their last Premier League game at home to West Ham, as the visitors could have left Vitality with all three points thanks to Lucas Paqueta's penalty, but Enes Unal outclassed his Brazilian counterpart in the spot-kick battle.

With just 90 seconds remaining, Bournemouth's Turkish striker took a free-kick from around 30 yards out and beat Lukasz Fabianski with a stunning finish into the top corner, helping his side extend their unbeaten run in the Premier League to four games.

Despite failing to win against West Ham, Bournemouth's three-game winning streak ended, but Andoni Iraola's side still sit seven places above Manchester United in the table, just two points behind Manchester City and sixth.

Having consistently shown a commitment to attacking football – having had the second-highest number of shots this season behind Man City – Bournemouth are aiming to score in their 10th consecutive Premier League game on Sunday and could make it three consecutive away wins for the first time in 12 months.

That run in December 2023 also saw Iraola's side beat Man United 3-0 at Old Trafford, then held the Red Devils to a 2-2 draw at the Vitality Stadium in April – the first time Bournemouth have not lost in three consecutive games against this Sunday's opposition.

MU vs Bournemouth score prediction

Based on the above football comments, we and the world's leading football sites have given the results of the match.MU vs Bournemouthas follows:

• Sportsmole:MU 2-0 Bournemouth

• WhoScore:MU 2-1 Bournemouth
• Our newspaper predicts:MU 2-1 Bournemouth

When and where to watch MU vs Bournemouth live?

To watch live the MU vs Bournemouth match in the Premier League taking place at 9:00 p.m. on December 22, viewers can watch onK+ Sport,K+PMor online sports channels. Wish you have fun watching football.