Key events
Remember Sergio Reguilón? The former United loanee has signed for Inter Miami, more than six months after leaving Spurs at the end of his contract. The left-back will wear No 3 and is replacing Jordi Alba, who announced his retirement today.
“Frank (see preamble) is my soul brother,” writes Krishna Moorthy. “In the 90s in India, I announced I would not shave my beard until my steel plant made 16 melts in a day. Two months passed and the general manager warned me that I would trip on my beard soon. In the third month, my colleagues got it done. Hang in there, Frank.”
“I’ll jump in the sea if we play well and win,” roars Paul Moody, who is at least in Brazil. Let’s all just calm down now.
Ruben Amorim gives his pre-game thoughts as he seeks a home win after losing to Everton and drawing 1-1 with West Ham. “We have to have more quality in the buildup, press better … we need to be a more mature team. We’ve made mistakes that have cost us a lot of points.”
One change too from Andoni Iraola, with Tyler Adams replacing Alex Scott – a rumoured summer target for United – in midfield.
“Good memories here, but it’s probably not going to be the same result,” Iraola tells Sky. “United are playing better, they are on a great run, and for us it’s the opposite.” Well, at least he’s honest.
Ruben Amorim makes just one change from the side that beat Wolves, with Nassir Mazraoui out of the squad and off to Afcon duty with Morocco. Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo are able to play tonight before flying out for the tournament, though.
Team news
Manchester United (3-4-3): Lammens; Yoro, Heaven, Shaw; Amad, Casemiro, Fernandes, Dalot; Mbeumo, Mount, Cunha.
Subs: Bayindir, Martínez, Zirkzee, Malacia, Dorgu, Ugarte, Sesko, Fredricson, Mainoo.
Bournemouth (4-2-3-1): Petrovic; Smith, Diakité, Senesi, Truffert; Tavernier, Adams; Jiménez, Kluivert, Semenyo; Evanilson. Subs: Dennis, Araujo, Soler, Brooks, Scott, Adli, Junior Kroupi, Hill, Unal.
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Preamble
These days, I can’t think about Manchester United without also thinking about the hair guy. You know the one. He vowed not to trim his locks until United won five games in a row; that was now 436 days ago. Poor Frank. He may have earned plenty of followers with this stunt but he still has to walk around with that ludicrous Beefeater barnet, the living embodiment of his beloved team’s relentless decay.
Still, there are reasons to be positive. United are improving, with Ruben Amorim climbing off the hot seat and getting his team reacquainted with the right end of the table. It’s been a slow process: a first run of three straight wins under Amorim was followed by one victory in five. Last Monday’s 4-1 victory at Wolves looks more impressive in the light of Arsenal’s struggles against the league’s bottom side.
Bournemouth should provide a tougher test, having won 3-0 on their last two trips to Old Trafford. That said, Andoni Iraola’s side arrive here in an alarming slump. Since beating Nottingham Forest to go second in the table in late October, a run of six without a win has dropped them all the way down to 15th in the tightly-packed league table.
A chance, then, for United to stay in the top-four race, move level on points with Chelsea and turn the big win ticker up to two. Next up: a trip to red-hot Aston Villa?! Oh Frank! At least you’ll be warm this winter.
