Two sides of contrasting recent forms with lock horns at Old Trafford when Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United take on Eddie Howe’s floundering Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon.

The Red Devils are in their best form of the season and the last weekend's League Cup triumph at Wembley was an indication of their quality and ability to win silverware.

And what further backs that up is that they managed to grind out a result when Southampton were the better team throughout the game.

Bournemouth, on the other hand, are on their worst run of the campaign. Despite playing good football during games, Howe’s men have failed to achieve the desired results.

The Cherries though, did manage to beat United last season when a 2-1 triumph at Dean Court heaped up more misery on former manager Louis van Gaal.

Since then, United have managed to win both meetings between the two teams in a rather emphatic fashion.

Last season’s 3-1 win at Old Trafford saw Van Gaal win his last league game at the Theatre of Dreams, while the 3-1 win over the Cherries at Dean Court during the first game of this season acted as Jose Mourinho’s first win in charge of the Red Devils.

A dream run for United

Since having lost 4-0 to Antonio Conte’s table-topping Chelsea in October, Manchester United haven’t been beaten once in the Premier League.

They may be still be 6th in the table, but the gap between the top three and the top six has reduced considerably as a result of their unbeaten streak. A win on Saturday could well take Mourinho’s men into the top four, even if temporarily.

The win over Southampton saw Zlatan Ibrahimović's brace stun the Saints and hand his side their eighth consecutive win in all competitions.

Their last league outing was a 2-0 win over Walter Mazzarri’s Watford as a goal each from Anthony Martial and Juan Mata had allowed United to cement their position in sixth.

The recent performances of Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Ibrahimović have been vital to United’s run and with Ander Herrera acting as the anchor man, United have looked quite tough to beat.

That is one of the reasons why they have conceded the third-least amount of goals, 21, in the league. Only leaders Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have conceded less.

Ibrahimović’s tally of 15 league goals rank him as the third-highest goal-getter in the league, only behind Harry Kane, Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku and Chelsea hitman Diego Costa. The big Swede has four assists to his name too. Despite that though, United are only the seventh-highest goalscorers in the league.

Disastrous 2017 for the Cherries

2017 hasn’t gone according to the script for Eddie Howe’s men, who have failed in winning a single game in all competitions.

Their inability to convert good football into important goals has left them dangerously close to the dreaded drop zone and the Cherries are just four points adrift of 18th-placed Crystal Palace.

A win on Saturday does sound unlikely, but it could take them further clear of the relegation zone as they look to avoid dropping back into the second-tier.

Their previous league game was an entertaining 2-1 defeat at the hands of Tony Pulis’ West Bromwich Albion, who managed to complete a comeback after a Joshua King spot-kick early in the game had set Bournemouth up for picking up three points.

While Bournemouth's attack hasn’t been up to scratch, they have let in 14 goals in their last five games - the key reason for their recent downturn in form.

And it is King himself, who has been their highest goalscorer with seven goals, followed by Callum Wilson’s tally of six goals. Despite not being the most scariest of attacking teams, Bournemouth have scored more goals than 11 other top-flight teams and only two less than Manchester United.

Conceding goals is where the problem actually lies for the south coast club, who have let in as many as 51 goals this season. They have the second worst defence in the league and only Swansea have conceded more goals than them with 57.

Both sides receive injury boosts

Bournemouth boss Howe confirmed during his press-conference that Jordon Ibe will be fit to feature at Old Trafford, after having suffered a minor knee injury against Manchester City two weeks ago.

The former Burnley boss though did confirm that Simon Francis will miss the clash, much like Callum Wilson, who is recovering from an ACL injury that he suffered recently. He won't feature again until next season.

United, on the other hand, will have Henrikh Mkhitaryan back after the Armenian missed the EFL Cup success at Wembley. Mourinho also confirmed that Luke Shaw is in the squad to face the Cherries and is likely to feature.

As well as the left-back's return, Phil Jones has recovered from his hamstring problem and is in line to return to action on Saturday.

Predicted line-ups

Manchester United: De Gea; Valencia, Bailly, Smalling, Blind; Herrera, Pogba; Martial, Mkhitaryan, Mata; Ibrahimović.

Bournemouth: Boruc; Smith, Cook, Mings, Daniels; Arter, Surman, Wilshere; Ibe, King, Fraser.

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About the author
Kaustubh Pandey
A 19-year-old football writer. Currently write for CalcioMercato, OutsideOftheBoot, ForzaItalianFootball, BackPageFootball, EPLIndex, Sportscafe and many other websites.