Manchester United visit the south coast to play Bournemouth in Saturday's late kickoff, and will be looking to bounce back from their Champions League elimination in midweek when they play the relegation candidates for the first time ever in league football.
Louis van Gaal will have a massively depleted squad for the trip after two of his first-choice defenders picked up injuries against Wolfsburg on Tuesday night, leaving him facing the prospect of playing a back-line comprised solely of makeshift defenders and young backups.
Injuries to Matteo Darmian and Chris Smalling leave United with a likely back four of Guillermo Varela, Paddy McNair, Daley Blind and Ashley Young – although it's possible that 18-year-old Cameron Borthwick-Jackson will get the nod at left-back after coming on ahead of Young when Darmian went off injured in Germany.
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The situation could barely be worse for Van Gaal's defensive-minded style of football and, while some fans may hope the defensive situation could force him to open up his system a little, the way he was punished by more exciting football on Tuesday makes that seem unlikely.
Bastian Schweinsteiger will also miss the match as he begins his three-match suspension for elbowing Winston Reid last Saturday, while Wayne Rooney looks set to miss out as he tries to bounce back from an unfortunate combination of injury and poor form.
That form extends to the entire team, which is now on a four-game winless run in all competitions. United need a win to get their title challenge back on track.
The Cherries for once have no new injury worries coming into the match – and could even welcome back Sylvain Distin, who missed last weekend's 1-0 win over Chelsea due to illness.
With Leicester hosting Chelsea on Monday night, and the Blues offering a near-guaranteed three points of late, United could find themselves six points off the lead going into next weekend's round of matches – leaving them a lot of ground to make up over the festive period if they're to mount a serious title challenge.
With that in mind, Saturday's game isn't quite a must-win for the Red Devils – but it's close.
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