Manchester United vs Bournemouth LIVE! Premier League match stream, latest team news, lineups, TV, prediction | OneFootball

Ruben Amorim’s side bid to go into Christmas on a high

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After a dramatic win in the Manchester derby last weekend and then losing at Tottenham in a chaotic Carabao Cup quarter-final Thursday, Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United face Bournemouth in their final game before Christmas.

Fail to win at Old Trafford and United will be in the bottom half of the Premier League table at Christmas for the first time since the 1989-90 season. Amorim has found out in recent weeks the size of the job facing him at United but last weekend’s 2-1 win at the Etihad provided a lift and there were some positives in the second-half fightback at Spurs.

Victory in their penultimate home game of the year would give United a boost going into the busy festive period, but they face a tough test against a Bournemouth side enjoying a brilliant season under Andoni Iraola. The Cherries ran riot in a famous 3-0 win at Old Trafford last season and can move fifth with a victory. Follow the game LIVE below with our dedicated match blog.

Live updates

32 seconds ago

Neville: 'Distraction' Rashford needs to go in January

Gary Neville believes Manchester United have to get rid of Marcus Rashford in January.

Speaking ahead of kick-off, the Sky Sports pundit said: “If you'd said to me seven or eight days ago whether Rashford could leave in January, I'd say no chance.

“One thing in the past with players at a big club, if you're talking to me about it every single week, it becomes a distraction for the manager and the focal point of the press conference, that's when it does become obvious they have to leave.

“It'll probably work for both parties.

“There's good examples of players who have struggled at Manchester United and gone on to do better elsewhere - Jadon Sancho at Chelsea, Scott McTominay didn't struggle but he's doing well at Napoli.

“Marcus might think that's the right thing for him as well."

8 minutes ago

Amorim looking forward to Old Trafford return

Ruben Amorim is pleased to be back at Old Trafford and eager to put smiles back on the faces of supporters before Christmas.

It has been a gruelling period for United, with three consecutive away matches since a shock 3-2 loss at home to Nottingham Forest on December 7.

Back-to-back wins at Viktoria Plzen and Manchester City appeared to have the Amorim regime up and running, but they were brought back down to earth with a 4-3 loss at Tottenham in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on Thursday.

Ahead of a return to Old Trafford, Amorim said: "Yeah, it was really hard the Nottingham game, to lose that game in the way we lost.

"I am always looking forward to hear that song and to play with our fans and to try to put some happiness in their lives because (Thursday) was really tough for sure for them."

AFP via Getty Images

16 minutes ago

Amorim: Rashford omission 'is my decision’

Ruben Amorim insists it is his decision to leave Marcus Rashford out of the Manchester United squad again.

Amorim has just been speaking to Sky Sports ahead the game and denied he is being told not to select Rashford by anyone at the club.

“It is my decision,” he said. “And it always will be. It is selection. I want to see the best of my players and I try different things with different players, so that is my focus.”

Amorim added: “Matthijs [de Ligt] is still sick and we saved Harry [Maguire] in midweek because he played his first full 90 minutes for a long time on Sunday. We have to be careful with this kind of player.

“Joshua [Zirkzee] did really well in the last game with fresh legs.”

24 minutes ago

Iraola: Man Utd ‘more in control’ under Amorim

Andoni Iraola has been impressed by the impact Ruben Amorim has made at Manchester United.

Iraola takes his Bournemouth side to Old Trafford with the Cherries sitting three points ahead of their opponents.

Amorim's stint began with a draw against Ipswich, since when United have won four games and lost three, with last weekend's derby triumph over Manchester City followed by a League Cup defeat against Tottenham.

"I think they are different," said Iraola, whose side won the equivalent game 3-0 last year.

"I think they play in a different way, different system, different approach to the games. I think they keep the games more in their control. They've raised the possession they have on the ball and they have really good patterns.

"If we allow them to dictate the game and to be the team taking the decisions on the ball, it's going to be very difficult because I think they are playing very well.

"They are conceding very few chances, very few goals, they have very good defensive stats. They already had this with (Erik) ten Hag this season because they've signed also new defenders, good defenders, and they've improved from past seasons defensively overall and I think they are continuing now."

32 minutes ago

For Bournemouth, Tyler Adams replaces Lewis Cook in midfield as Andoni Iraola sticks with most of the same XI who were held by West Ham on Monday.

Both Evanilson and Antoine Semenyo, who were concerns, are fit to start.

37 minutes ago

So Marcus Rashford has again been left out of the Manchester United squad.

Rashford was dropped for last weekend’s 2-1 win at Manchester City and was not in the squad for the Carabao Cup defeat to Tottenham on Thursday.

Ruben Amorim is still without Matthijs de Ligt due to illness so Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia start in defence, with Victor Lindelof missing through injury.

Amorim makes six changes from the loss at Spurs, with Andre Onana is back in goal.

43 minutes ago

Team news: No Rashford again

Manchester United: Onana, Mazraoui, Maguire, Martinez, Dalot, Ugarte, Mainoo, Malacia, Diallo, Zirkzee, Fernandes

Subs: Bayindir, Evans, Yoro, Casemiro, Collyer, Eriksen, Antony, Garnacho, Hojlund

Bournemouth: Kepa, Smith, Zabarnyi, Huijsen, Kerkez, Adams, Christie, Semenyo, Kluivert, Outtara, Evanilson

Subs: Travers, Cook, Brooks, Hill, Unal, Billing, Aarons, Winterburn, Kinsey

56 minutes ago

Team news on the way from Old Trafford...

Manchester United via Getty Imag

1 hour ago

Stats

- Manchester United begin this matchround 13th in the table. They have not been lower than seventh at the end of a calendar year since sitting 15th in 1989

- United's tally of 22 points is their lowest after 16 matches since 1989

- Only Liverpool, Chelsea and Nottingham Forest have earned more points across the past 10 matches than Bournemouth's 17

- Bournemouth have scored a league-high eight Premier League goals by substitutes. Their last three goals were scored by players off the bench, in minutes 87, 95 and 90.

1 hour ago

Amorim defends Rashford omission

The big talking point at Manchester United this week has been Marcus Rashford.

Ruben Amorim has insisted it was not a mistake to leave Rashford out of the United squad for Thursday's 4-3 defeat at Tottenham in the Carabao Cup.

Rashford declared on Tuesday he was “ready for a new challenge” after Amorim decided to omit the 27-year-old from the team for the 2-1 derby win at Manchester City last Sunday.

While Rashford's contract runs until 2028 and Amorim insisted he wanted the "big talent" to stay on Wednesday, the England international was left at home for this cup tie in the capital to spark more speculation over his future.

United were 3-0 down after 54 minutes at Tottenham and despite a second-half fightback they exited the competition, but the Portuguese head coach defended his decision.

Asked if it was a mistake to leave Rashford out, Amorim said: "No it is not.

"I feel that I do the right thing for the team so it's never a mistake. We have to make a selection.

"Sometimes, like in the game, you feel that some of the guys go inside of the pitch and change a little bit of the game. Sometimes it is like that.

"I think it was not a mistake because I feel I am always doing the best for the team in my way of seeing things."

Rashford has scored just 15 goals in 67 appearances in the 18 months since signing a big-money deal until 2028, with his future set to be a big topic of debate over the next month.