Following the latest round of FA Cup fixtures, attention now turns back to the Premier League and Manchester United will be hosting Burnley at Old Trafford on Tuesday night. After a great start to Solskjær's managerial appointment, Manchester United will be looking to ride this wave to a Champions League qualification place by the end of the season.

Current Form

Manchester United

Manchester United are in great form at the moment and have been playing much better under the guidance of Solskjær than they were at the end of Mourinho's time in charge. They still have a battle on their hands, but they're looking like they're going to remain in the race for a top 4 finish at this point in time. Currently, Manchester United are sat in 6th place, just 3 points behind 4th placed Chelsea and behind Arsenal only on goal difference. Over the previous 5 games, Manchester United have won all 5.

Statistically, Manchester United are still hurting from their poor form in the earlier stages of the season. At one point, they were actually conceding more goals than they were scoring and that's exactly why they ended up so far behind the league leaders. However, they have now scored 46 times, an average of 1.92 goals per game. Defensively, they've conceded 33 times, an average of 1.38 goals per game.

Burnley

Burnley have struggled so far this season and currently find themselves in 16th place in the league table on 22 points, just 3 points above the relegation zone. However, they are currently on a good run of form and will quickly climb the table if they keep playing the way they have been. In their previous 5 games, Burnley won 3, lost 1, and drew 1.

Statistically, Burnley aren't looking great overall so far this season. They've scored 23 times, an average of 1 goal per game. However, they have also conceded 43 times, an average of 1.87 goals per game. If Burnley are to survive the drop then they simply need to stop giving away such easy goals.

Head to Head

In the previous 10 meetings between the clubs, Manchester United won 6, Burnley won 1, and there were 3 draws. It's fair to say that this has been a painful fixture for Burnley over the years and they have beaten Manchester United just once since 1969.

Analysis

Manchester United

Expectations have been rising around Old Trafford over the last few weeks and a game that would have looked tricky on paper under Mourinho now looks like an almost guaranteed 3 points. Solskjær's team talk couldn't be much easier at this point in time and he'll be telling his players to go out and express themselves in the same way they have since he took the helm. With this in mind, Manchester United are likely to be on the front foot for most of this game and will dominate possession, forcing Burnley to defend from deep areas.

The issue for Solskjær here, if there is one, is that nobody has seen how his Manchester United team will react to a defeat. This isn't to say that there will be an inevitable collapse but it's highly unlikely that Manchester United will win every single game from now until the end of the season. As such, there is a faint feeling of a pressure to keep winning and riding the wave of positivity that has been developing around the club recently. This shouldn't be much of an issue here but complacency would be a big mistake as this Burnley team have been winning games recently and could cause some major issues.

Burnley

Burnley will be feeling a bit disappointed that this fixture arrived after the sacking of Mourinho as Manchester United manager. Had they played the Manchester United team on display at that time then this game would certainly be one they would have thought they could take some points from. As it stands, Manchester United are defeating teams left, right, and centre at the moment and will be looking to do the same in front of their home supporters again on Tuesday night.

Despite recent results, the Manchester United defensive line has some clear issues and this is something that the Burnley players will need to keep in mind throughout the game. They are likely to be under pressure for large spells but will get chances to test the Manchester United defence and must take those opportunities when they arrive if they wish to avoid defeat. Set pieces could be a place to try to cause some issues, but Burnley will need to find some semblance of control in the midfield battle to be able to get players up the pitch to find such opportunities. Sitting back and defending for 90 minutes would almost certainly lead to a defeat.

Predictions

Although Burnley have been in decent form recently, Manchester United have been even better and it's difficult to see past a convincing home win here. If Burnley can get on the score sheet first then they do have a chance as Manchester United certainly aren't as good as the likes of Manchester City. However, if Burnley concede first then the floodgates could open and lead to a disappointing night for the away team.

Prediction: Manchester United win

Score Prediction: Manchester United 3 - 1 Burnley

Betting Picks

I have placed a small stake on the X2 market just on the off-chance that Burnley cause an upset. I also believe there will be a fair few goals in the match so have taken positions on the over 2.5 and over 3.5 goal markets.

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