Manchester United look to bounce back from a tough defeat at the weekend as they welcome Burnley to Old Trafford.
Man Utd know that a win will see them make sure of fifth before Wolves host Liverpool on Thursday, whilst Burnley can climb to 12th if they can snatch a shock victory.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesVictor Lindelof is a doubt for Manchester United after missing training on Tuesday with illness.
Timothy Fosu-Mensah (fitness) and Luke Shaw (cramp) are also expected to feature but Marcus Rashford is ruled out for the foreseeable future with a back injury.
Marcos Rojo (groin), Axel Tuanzebe (hamstring), Paul Pogba (foot) and Scott McTominay (knee) are still sidelined.
Burnley have no fresh injury concerns after beating Leicester on Sunday, as Ashley Barnes (hernia) and Johann Berg Gudmundsson (hamstring) remain out.
Stat Attack
- Manchester United haven’t lost any of their last ten meetings against Burnley since a 1-0 defeat at Turf Moor in August 2009 (W6, D4).
- Three of their last four draws came at Old Trafford, with the latter two finishing 2-2 as Man Utd came from two goals down on both occasions to snatch a point.
- Ashley Barnes has scored the opening goal in his last two trips to Old Trafford for Burnley.
- There hasn’t been a run of four consecutive draws between these teams at Old Trafford in all competitions since March 1970 – April 1974, in which those four meetings all finished as score draws.
- Burnley are yet to receive a Premier League penalty against Utd who have scored two of their four penalties in 11 previous clashes against the Clarets.
Prediction
This is a huge test for Man Utd because Burnley are an organised team who can be tough to break down, yet are often clinical on the attack as they repeatedly demonstrated on Sunday to beat Leicester from behind.
Their performance in fact was a marked contrast to United who seemed to lack any spark at Liverpool without Rashford, especially when they got decent opportunities on goal yet somehow missed from within space.
I therefore am expecting a physical game because Utd will be desperate to prove that they can perform at home without Rashford, whereas Burnley will play their usual direct passive game which I can see producing a surprise result here if the Red Devils’ midfield don’t improve on Sunday’s showing.
Prediction: Manchester United 1-2 Burnley
Result: Manchester United 0-2 Burnley