This Friday, Manchester United will make the long trip down to the South Coast to face AFC Bournemouth and kick off Premier League matchday 31. 

As a result of the pending international break and the FA Cup weekend that will immediately follow, this will be United's last game until 13th April, when they face old foes Leeds United for Monday Night Football. 

So, what can we expect from our hosts on Friday? 

At the moment, Bournemouth are having a good but inconsistent season. They currently sit in 10th place, with 41 points from their 30 games so far. This has them just two points off what would be a maiden European campaign via the UEFA Conference League (subject to a two-legged play-off round tie). 

The Cherries have not actually lost a Premier League game since the 3rd of January, when they were defeated 3-2 by league leaders Arsenal. However, they are not winning many games at the moment either - all of their last four outings have been draws. Three of those have been 0-0's, and the other 1-1, so fine margins are at play. 

In terms of dangermen, young forward Eli Kroupi Jr has been one of the breakout stars of the Premier League season so far. The Frenchman has found the net eight times in just 14 starts in the league. 

He has rotated a lot with Evanilson, who has found the net six times this season, including in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford back in December. Versatile forward Marcus Tavernier has found the net five times and scored a free-kick in the previous match-up. 

Forward Rayan signed from Vasco da Gama in January and scored or assisted in each of his first three outings. His output has since dropped, but his general performances off the right-hand side have been very lively, and he has been rewarded with his first-ever Brazil national team call-up. 

Ultimately, Bournemouth's biggest strength is the collective. They have been consistently competitive under Andoni Iraola since he joined in 2023, despite losing key players such as Milos Kerkez, Dean Huijsen, and Ilya Zabarnyi last summer. Unlike certain other managers, Iraola knows Bournemouth's place in the food chain and just gets on with the task at hand. 

This will definitely be a tough game for United. There is nothing worse than stewing on a bad result, so with such a break until the next game, a win here would be absolutely huge. 

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