Bournemouth are better than us. Far better. Even though they've had a dip in form, they are still better than the 14th-placed side in the league.
Even had we had our strongest XI available, going to the Vitality Stadium is always a tough task.
Bournemouth are also one of the league's Cinderella stories this season given their form, style of play, who they've beaten and position in the table.
United are also one of the league's more interesting stories for all the wrong reasons.
With another crunch and season-defining game at Bilbao on Thursday night, will Amorim run the risk of potentially injuring some of his more important players or run the risk of playing a weak side that could get put to the sword by a strong Bounremouth and further embarrass ourselves in this truly awful campaign?
Predicted Lineup
Amorim's team news yesterday told us that there will be no return for Heaven, De Ligt, Amad and now Dalot has gotten injured and could be out for the rest of the season. A shuffling of the pack was perhaps expected with Thursday's game on our minds but no Dalot was not on the cards.
Having played there last week, I can see the manager using Dorgu as the RWB and keeping Amass on the left.
Other than that, you can see I've gone for a relatively strong side. I don't think this would be the team to end the match though.
I can see the likes of Maguire and/or Yoro, Casemiro, Mazraoui and one of the three forwards coming off at some point in the second half.
My thinking behind this team is that Amorim will want to start off strong and give minutes to some players before the Bilbao game and then look to take them off. It will also give us more of a chance to get a result at the Vitality compared to a B-team.
Approach
Possession wise, it's pretty even-stevens with United just edging it 53% to 48% so it's a tough one to call to determine who will dominate the ball.
However, as we are away from home and we won't want to exert too much energy, a more defensive approach maybe adopted by Amorim. It wouldn't be the first time this has happened and it probably won't be the last.
I expect Bournemouth to have more of the ball and have to try and break us down but as our defense is actually relatively solid, then it will be hard for them to play through us.
I also feel that our midfield has been steady as well as whoever plays in there, keeps things ticking over whilst also protecting the back line. All of Bruno, Ugarte and Casemiro have done a fine job in the center of the park. The only weak link has been Eriksen. If he plays as part of that midfield two, we will have a problem.
Then there is the ever-present issue of the attack. Against Wolves, United had 12 attempts at goal but just 2 hit the target. Hojlund, Mount and Bruno all making a hash of things when they should've done better with their opportunities.
Amorim would've been happy with the overall display in that match as even with a somewhat second-string side, we still managed to control the game and be the better team. Failure to take those opportunities is what caused another match to slip away.
United have only scored 38 goals this season in the PL which is 14 fewer than our opponents. 1.15 goals per game.
We need a new striker.
Form
United lost their 15th game last week pushing us down to the low of 14th in the table. We've lost both of our last two in the league.
Away from home, we are 15th with 1.06 points per game.
Do I need to say more?
Bournemouth
The Cherries sit in an impressive 8th after their 33 matches, a position that no one would've expected of Andoni Iraloa's men and is a place United wouldn't mind being in right now. It's funny when you think that we should be where they are and Bournemouth should be where we are, traditionally. Football, eh?
They have 49 points which is 11 more than United, with 13 wins (3 more than us), 10 draws and 10 losses (5 fewer than us) scoring 52 times and conceding 40 which is 6 fewer than United.
Their recent form hasn't been great as they've only picked up one win in their last five. In fact, Bournemouth have just that one win in eight, not a record you would associate with them given how they've performed for most of the season.
Against the big 6, they have a very strong record. In 9 matches, the Cherries have four wins, three losses and two draws. They've won more than they've lost. These victories included back-to-back triumphs over Arsenal and City.
Their home record isn't as strong as you would've thought as they sit in 11th in the home table. In 16 games, Iraola has seven wins, three draws and six defeats scoring 20 and conceding 14 with a total of 24 points. Those 14 conceded however, is only bettered by Liverpool (12) and Forest (11).
With 17 scored on the road, United have the fourth-worst goal scoring record away from home.
It's thanks to Bournemouth's results on their travels that we see them so high in the league as they are 5th in the away table. 5th.
They also have a host of top players including Justin Kluivert who scored at Old trafford and has 12 strikes to his name, 4 more than United's best. Antoine Semenyo and Milos Kerkez are two players who've been linked with a move to United and have been two of the better players in their positions in the league. And of course one of the best young defenders in the game, Dean Huijsen who also scored in their 3-0 win over us earlier in the season.
We got to be very careful.
Recent Meetings
It's actually not a good record for United in recent times. In the last seven league meetings, MUFC have three wins, Bournemouth have three wins and there's been one draw.
In fact we haven't won any of the last three, losing two and drawing one which was in this fixture last season.
The Cherries have the opportunity of doing something they've never done before and that's the double over United after their 3-0 win at Old Trafford in December.
There's a good chance this happens.
Prediction
Similar to Wolves, I just don't want to be embarrassed. For some reason, should Amorim start with a strong(ish) side, I feel like we can nick something from this game.
I don't see Bournemouth losing though, but I do think it will be closer than people think.
2-1 to the home side or a 2-2 draw.
Harry Maguire | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)
Justin Kluivert | Creator: Carl Recine | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2024 Getty Images via The Football Faithful