Manchester United may be sitting respectably in 2nd position in the Premier League, but after the weekend showing they are all but out of the race for the title already. So is everybody else as well, because Manchester City’s deserved 2-1 win at Old Trafford puts them a huge 11 points clear and they’re showing no signs of slowing down.

That defeat was a huge disappointment for a side who have performed so well at Old Trafford, and it brought an end to their four match winning streak in all competitions. In the Premier League they have won 11 of their 16 games, and until Sunday all of their failures had come on the road.

Jose Mourinho will be expecting his side to bounce back from this setback, and will still be holding on to a vague hope that Manchester City’s form will drop off dramatically before the end of the season.

Bournemouth managed to get a point away to Crystal Palace at the weekend, although it was very close to ending in defeat as the hosting Eagles missed an injury time penalty at 2-2. This makes it three draws from their last four matches, and they now have fixtures against Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Manchester City coming up. It’s fair to say that this isn’t the best Christmas present for Cherries fans.

The visitors were actually very impressive last season and secured a top half finish thanks to their excellent attacking brand of football. However, despite promising looking investments in the summer they have failed to live up to expectations this season, sitting 14th in the table with just three points between them and the drop zone.

Bournemouth have managed to avoid defeat in their last four away games, but it’s important to note that these all came against sides who are now in the bottom five of the table. Prior to that they had lost four in a row, so their chances of keeping their unbeaten run going are looking very slim here.

The Red Devils have been excellent at home this season, conceding just three goals in total and two of those coming against Manchester City on Sunday. They have won five of their eight home games by at least a two goal margin as well, so backing a Manchester United -1.5 Asian Handicap looks a great choice along with a 2-0 correct score predictions.

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Manchester United vs Bournemouth Stats