Manchester United vs Burnley. Premier League.
Old TraffordAttendance75,046.
Tuesday 26 December 2017 13:54, UK
Manchester United will be looking to return to winning ways when they host Burnley on Boxing Day.
Jose Mourinho was left frustrated after United conceded in injury-time to draw 2-2 with Leicester in their last game.
"It is an accumulation of mistakes in an easy match to win," said Mourinho. "The team was playing well and in the second half, the result should have been four, five, six. But the reality is that it is 2-2.
"Sometimes you make mistakes and you are not punished, but we were punished."
The draw leaves United 13 points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Burnley saw a three-match unbeaten run come to an end as they lost 3-0 at home to Tottenham. Only City (5) and Chelsea (7) have conceded fewer away goals this season than the Clarets (9).
United will still be without a string of first-team players against the Clarets. Mourinho has ruled midfielders Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini out of the festive period, while Antonio Valencia has been struggling with a hamstring injury of late.
Centre-back Eric Bailly is sidelined after ankle surgery, while versatile full-back Matteo Darmian missed the draw at the King Power with an unspecified injury and Chris Smalling also received a knock late in that game.
Meanwhile, Burnley could be without top scorer Chris Wood for their trip to Old Trafford. The striker limped off during the first half of Saturday's loss to Spurs, with Ashley Barnes on standby should he not make it.
Defender James Tarkowski serves the second of a three-match ban, while Charlie Taylor will continue at left-back if Stephen Ward (knee) remains sidelined.
Manchester United haven't lost a home league game against Burnley since September 1962 (2-5), winning eight and drawing five since.
However, Burnley left Old Trafford with a goalless draw last season, despite facing a total of 38 shots, the highest in a single match in 2016-17.
Manchester United have won 19 of their 23 Premier League Boxing Day games, giving them the best win % on this day in the competition (83%).
Indeed, they're unbeaten in 16 home league games on Boxing Day (W14 D2), since a 0-3 defeat against Liverpool in 1978.
It is alright saying we missed chance after chance, but Man Utd's final pass was sometimes atrocious and if I was the manager, I would have been fuming. At the highest level, that was poor. To just let players drop off and get the ball against 10 men…. But I am going to go for Man Utd, they are going to beat someone soon, so I am going to go 4-0 as I think losing to Spurs will have affected Burnley on Saturday. They got well beaten and I just think Man Utd are waiting for the goals to start flowing, while James Tarkowski is a big miss for Burnley - you saw that on Saturday.
PAUL PREDICTS: 4-0 (10/1 with Sky Bet)
