Manchester United head to Turf Moor knowing either a win or even a draw against Burnley would see them overtake Liverpool to rise to the top of the league table. We are currently in second place level on points with the current league leaders. United enter the game coming off a 1-0 win against Watford in the FA Cup at the weekend thanks to a Scott McTominay header early on in the game, which sent us into the fourth round of the competition.

Previous to this, we had suffered defeat in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup as we lost 2-0 to Manchester City. However, our league form recently has been excellent as we have won eight of the last 10 games to be in second place. Before our league meeting with Burnley on Tuesday evening, we had secured back-to-back victories against Wolves and Aston Villa at Old Trafford. 

With league leaders Liverpool dropping points over the course of Christmas and New Year, United have found themselves in a great place to overtake them. A win or even a draw would take us above them. 

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær had been under intense pressure in the early part of the season. But he had weathered the media storm that his job was under threat. Since our excellent run of form, United are now being considered as title contenders. We have a number of key games in the month of January against the likes of Liverpool, Fulham, Sheffield United and Arsenal. This could determine whether we can push for our first league title in eight years.

In the corresponding fixture at Turf Moor last season, United ran out 2-0 winners. Burnley did gain their revenge in the Old Trafford fixture winning by the same score back in January last year.

Opposition Preview

Burnley arrives into this game in a good run of form. They have won three of the last four games in all competitions. Their last league outing saw them run out 1-0 winners against bottom of the table Sheffield United. They had been due to face Fulham on the 3rd January. But the league game was called off due to an outbreak of coronavirus at the West London club.

The Clarets were in FA Cup action at the weekend having had to overcome league one side MK Dons through penalties. Burnley looked like they were heading out of the competition. A Matej Vydra goal in the 94th minute equaliser sent the game into extra time.

Sean Dyche’s currently sit 16th in the table having gained 16 points from the last 15 games. They are 5 points above the relegation zone. They have won the last three of four home games as they defeated Crystal Palace, Wolves, and Sheffield United. Scoring goals has been an issue this season for the Clarets. They have only scored nine goals in their 15 league games, which is the second-worst record behind Sheffield United.

Burnley vs Manchester United Details

Teams: Burnley vs Manchester United

Date: January 12th, 2020 (Tuesday)

KO Time: 20:15 GMT

Competition: Premier League

Stadium: Turf Moor

Referee: Kevin Friend

Managers: Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Sean Dyche

Manchester United Team News

Edinson Cavani will be available for selection again after serving his three match suspension. Eric Bailly who suffered a neck injury during the FA Cup game against Watford will have to prove his fitness alongside Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw and Paul Pogba who missed the third round tie.

Ole said in his pre-match conference for the Burnley game about the injured quartet, “yeah, all of them trained today. Paul and Eric didn’t do all of it, but Luke and Victor did all of it. I’ve got a decent amount of players to pick from. Let’s see with Paul and Eric and how they are tomorrow.”

Solskjær will make wholesale changes after the Watford game with the likes of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Bruno Fernandes, David de Gea and Fred returning to the starting eleven.

Pre-Match Press Conference

During the pre-match press conference, Ole was asked if it is a great boost to have Edinson Cavani back after serving his three-match suspension. He said, “Edinson has trained well since he’s been banned. He’s ready to go. He’s a different type of striker than Mason [Greenwood], Anthony [Martial] and Marcus [Rashford]. I’m glad to have him back and that’s why we brought him in. He’s contributed really well so far. I’m sure he’ll be really important for us between now and the end of the season. The end of the season starts tomorrow night.”

A member of the media asked that it has been a long time that United have challenged for the title and how he can quantify this that given as a player he won many major trophies at the club. He said, ““Since Sir Alex [Ferguson] left, we’ve been second, third, fourth, fifth and twice sixth, once seventh. It’s important for us to establish ourselves up amongst [the top four]. We’ve only been in the top four three time since Sir Alex left. If we can do that again and improve on third, that’s progress. When I played, it was completely different, of course. We were really disappointed if we didn’t win the league. When we played, we were third once, but most of the time we challenged against one team. The league is different now; there are so many top teams that can challenge and can look at themselves as candidates to challenge the top teams.”

Ole was also asked if United were now ready to pick up the mentality of, rather than being ‘the hunter’, being ‘the hunted’. He said, “We have to be aggressive. We have to go into every game humble, work hard. Don’t even think for a second that you’ve cracked it if you’re near the top. That is not the type of players that we have. We have players who should play on the front foot, be aggressive and on the front foot, be hard to play against, no matter what. But, of course, the group’s mentality is improving all the time.”

Burnley Team News

Burnley manager Sean Dyche will be hoping that goalkeeper Nick Pope has recovered from his ankle injury in time to face the Red Devils. Standby keeper Will Norris will deputise if Pope does not recover. Charlie Taylor, Jay Rodriguez, and Kevin Long still remain on the sidelines whilst Dwight McNeil may return from his groin injury. Josh Brownhill and Ashley Westwood who did not feature against MK Dons in the FA Cup are expected to return to the starting eleven. Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood will continue to lead the attack.

Form Guide

Manchester United Premier League form: DWWDWW

Manchester United form (all competitions): WDWWLW

Burnley Premier League form: DWDWLW

Burnley form (all competitions): WDWLWW

Interesting Facts

• United have avoided defeat in each of their last five visits to Turf Moor (W4 D1), keeping a clean sheet each time and winning the last four in a row.
• United are the only side still unbeaten away from home in the Premier League this season, winning six of their seven games so far.
• The Red Devils are unbeaten in their last 14 league games on the road, their longest run since March 2010-January 2011 (16 games).
• Anthony Martial has three goals in four games at Turf Moor, all of which were winning goals.
• Since being promoted in 2016, Burnley have only lost at Turf Moor versus United. Coincidentally, United have not won at Old Trafford against Burnley since then.

Predicted Lineup

De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; McTominay, Fred; Pogba, Fernandes, Rashford; Martial

Prediction

United have to give respect to Burnley given their recent home form as they have won three of their last four at Turf Moor. We have an excellent away record this season having won six and drawing one of our seven matches.

Those who did not feature against Watford in the FA Cup will come back into the side to fire up United’s attack. A win on Tuesday would see us top the league table and set up a huge clash against Liverpool at the weekend.

Predicted Score

Burnley 0-2 Manchester United