Manchester United and Bournemouth clash in Chicago in the Premier League Summer Series.
In the early hours of Thursday morning, Manchester United will take on Bournemouth at Chicago’s Soldier Field.
United beat West Ham 2-1 thanks to a Bruno Fernandes brace in New Jersey last weekend.
Meanwhile, Bournemouth beat Everton in another Premier League Summer Series fixture.
The Red Devils will challenge themselves against more Premier League opposition as Ruben Amorim ensures his players get more minutes on the pitch ahead of the competitive campaign.
Andoni Iraola’s side have enjoyed great success against United in recent years, and are unbeaten in four competitive meetings. That needs to change next season.
Both teams are similar to last season, although United have two new additions in attack and Bournemouth have been forced to sign new defenders.
The match will kick off at 2:30 am and it will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Premier League and MUTV.
Here are three players to watch out for as United go into their third pre-season friendly of the summer.
Bryan Mbeumo
After being left out of the squad that beat West Ham, Amorim is waiting for Bryan Mbeumo to be fully prepared before taking to the pitch.
Mbeumo is likely to make his debut against Bournemouth in Chicago, but it remains to be seen how many minutes he will get on the pitch in his first outing.
The Cameroon international missed the start of pre-season with Brentford due to negotiations with United. Now, the focus has shifted towards getting Mbeumo ready for the competitive season as he’ll aim to hit the ground running at Old Trafford.
Bruno Fernandes
Most United fans attending the game in Chicago will be excited to see Bruno Fernandes up close and in action.
The United captain was man of the match in the 2-1 win over West Ham following his two goals to secure the win.
Fernandes will hope he can continue his goalscoring form throughout pre-season and into the new campaign.
It will be interesting to see if Fernandes will play as one of the number-10s or if he’ll slot into a deeper midfielder position.
Manuel Ugarte
One of the other standout performers against the Hammers was Uruguay international Manuel Ugarte.
The former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder struggled in his first season at the club, missing out on a place in the team for the disappointing Europa League final. He will now try to overcome that by building on an impressive display against Graham Potter’s side.
While United have been linked with signing another midfielder this summer, Ugarte has yet to cement his place in the team as a holding midfielder.
Amorim worked with Ugarte at Sporting and he needs to get the best out of him this season.
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