I don’t think anybody would have expected us to be introducing a Top 3 clash between these two sides – especially in January! But both sides certainly deserve to be where they are after dominating majority of their games and looking like a constant threat.

Arsenal welcome Newcastle to the Emirates Stadium, yet to taste defeat on home soil this season. 21 points from their 7 games in front of a home crowd, but they are coming up against a Newcastle that have the joint best away record in the league conceding only 6 goals.

The Premier League leaders are in unbelievable form coming into this game collecting maximum points in their previous 5 games. Their most recent 4-2 victory over Brighton showed a slight crack in Arsenal’s armour after nearly finding themselves at 4-3 but Mitoma’s goal was given offside. After leading 4-1 up until the 77 minutes, it may give Newcastle a little bit more confidence knowing that Arsenal can concede goals.

It’s going to be a fascinating match up between the two most inform teams in the league. Arsenal come into this game with a 7 point gap and with Manchester City not playing until Thursday, Arsenal could potentially have a 10 point gap! Not much more motivation needed.

With Arsenal’s inform attack I feel they may just edge this but I can certainly see both sides finding the back of the net in this one.

The games are coming in thick and fast as the relentless Premier League schedule continues. Manchester United welcome Bournemouth to Old Trafford this time round, in a game they’ll be expecting to win comfortably. Erik Ten Hag has his reds firing at the moment and he has certainly steadied the ship in recent times. The form book reads well for the Red Devils having won all their 3 matches in all competitions since the return after the World Cup. Clean sheets have also been attained in all of these fixtures as confidence levels continue to rise at Old Trafford. They were involved in a dour affair last time out, winning by a goal to nil, edging out Wolves at Molineux. Their opponent’s struggles continue as we’ve seen the Cherries lose all of their last 3 matches to nil. Most worryingly it was the home defeat to Crystal Palace just a few days ago that caught my eye, as they were swept aside with ease, losing 2-0.

The push to secure a top 4 spot in the Premier League is in full flow for Manchester United at this moment in time. United are on a roll right now and have lost just 1 of their previous 9 in the PL. Their only major slip was at Aston Villa back in November. However, they’ve bounced back with 5 wins on the spin. Marcus Rashford has been the man who has caught my eye, hitting the onion bag in 3 consecutive matches. Not just his goal scoring and lethal finishing has been fantastic, but his overall match performances have been sensational. He’s oozing confidence and I can easily see him getting on the scoresheet once more in this fixture. We even saw the England International netting on 3 occasions in the World Cup over in Qatar too. The backline has much improved in the last few months, since their hammering at the Etihad in early October of last year it’s been 5 clean sheets in 9. Whoever has been lining up in the defence for United have no doubt been putting in a solid shift. Lisandro Martinez has been vital and he may be in contention for a start having returned to training just this week. The World Cup winner has been a stand out star but whether it’s been Maguire, Lindelof, Varane or even Luke Shaw at centre back, the clean sheets keep coming. Their home record stands at 5 wins and 1 draw in their previous 6 PL games at Old Trafford. Up against a very average Bournemouth side, I can only see a dominant home performance in this one.

A few words on the visitors, well, they’ve now lost 6 of their last 7 in the PL and it’s a tough assignment away at Old Trafford. They’re set to sit in deep for long periods of this game in an attempt to frustrate United. Although, I don’t see them lasting out for the full 90 minutes against the star quality the home side possess. The Cherries are leaking goals at an alarming rate in recent times, it’s an average of 2.17 GpG being conceded in their previous 6 in the league. This is also including home matches which make this statistic even more concerning. They currently sit just above the drop zone in 15th position but I can easily see them dropping down in the coming months. Dominic Solanke has been one bright spark at points during the season, he’s had 6 goal contributions in total, 3G & 3A. Alongside Philip Billing and Kieffer Moore who have been the others of note in terms of goals and assists.

With little going for Bournemouth though and the United form looking very strong, I am more than happy to take a United win and over 1.5 goals as the selection.