With the 2017/18 Premier League season getting ever closer to its exciting business end, there might be some hope for Manchester United to get back into the title race. Manchester City slipped up last time out against Liverpool and while United have got a 12-point gap to make up, they have a small glimmer of hope. Burnley are 7^th, just five points behind Arsenal in the Europa League places.

STATS

• Burnley are having an extremely good season in the top flight and are starting to fight for a European place. However, they’re without a win in six league matches and are losing ground with the big boys ahead of them. Their demise in form was highlighted by their 1-0 loss against Crystal Palace in their last game. They conceded late goals in their fixtures with Man United and Liverpool, which saw them drop four points.
• Man United are struggling to keep up with their runaway rivals and despite being unbeaten in five league fixtures, three of those have been draws against lesser opposition (Leicester, Burnley and Southampton). They comfortably strolled past Stoke in their last match with a 3-0 scoreline at Old Trafford but Burnley will be a tougher nut to crack.
• Chris Wood started the season well but his form has slowed, he is still Burnley’s top goal scorer with five goals.
• Romelu Lukaku is United’s leading scorer this season with 11 goals, only four top-flight players have got more this term.

HEAD TO HEAD

Burnley have won just once in their last 16 matches with Manchester United and that win came 2009, at the start of their relegation campaign. Since then, they have only managed to hold the Red Devils to draws, three of them with two coming at Old Trafford. The two sides last played on Boxing Day and the Clarets nearly secured a huge away win as they went 2-0 up but two second-half Jesse Lingard goals pulled it back. The last meeting at Turf Moor ended 2-0 to United in April of last year.

BURNLEY NEWS

A historic win for Burnley would possibly see them close the gap to 6^th to just two points, but they won’t find it easy against one of the division’s strongest teams. They are still without a few of their big players: Tom Heaton, Chris Wood, Robbie Brady, Stephen Ward and Jonathan Walters all won’t return for the match while Scott Arfield is expected to make the bench at least.

Latest matches: Burnley FC

13.01.2018	Prem	Crystal Palace	Burnley FC	1:0	L
06.01.2018	FA C	Manchester City	Burnley FC	4:1	L
01.01.2018	Prem	Burnley FC	Liverpool FC	1:2	L
30.12.2017	Prem	Huddersfield Town	Burnley FC	0:0	D
26.12.2017	Prem	Manchester United	Burnley FC	2:2	D

MANCHESTER UNITED NEWS

Now that they know Man City are beatable, Man United should have some renewed hope and they could do with winning this one. Daley Blind, Eric Bailly, Michael Carrick and Zlatan Ibrahimović will miss out through injury but they should enough quality to fill those voids.

Latest matches: Manchester United

15.01.2018	Prem	Manchester United	Stoke City	3:0	W
05.01.2018	FA C	Manchester United	Derby County	2:0	W
01.01.2018	Prem	Everton FC	Manchester United	0:2	W
30.12.2017	Prem	Manchester United	Southampton FC	0:0	D
26.12.2017	Prem	Manchester United	Burnley FC	2:2	D

SUMMARY

As they are in most Premier League matches, Man United go into this match as big favourites against a Burnley side stricken with injury problems. The hosts won’t be easy to beat, as they never are at home but Jose Mourinho’s side should be able to find a way through their resolute backline and come away with victory.