Manchester United vs Bournemouth Preview: Start Bruno at No. 10, Give Maguire the Armband

Start Bruno Fernandes against Bournemouth on Sunday, at No. 10 where he faces the goal, and give the armband to Harry Maguire. Dropping our best attacker with Benjamin Sesko and Kobbie Mainoo out and Marcus Rashford a doubt costs us the one match Michael Carrick can't afford to lose. Leaving the armband where it is tells the dressing room that a captain can pick apart the staff's plan on TV and pay nothing for it.

Duncan Ferguson wants him benched: "Put people in the team you trust. Your captain has thrown you under the bus. If you don't think he is playing for you, get him out. I wouldn't pick him even though he is their best player," he said on The Overlap podcast, per BBC Sport. Joe Smith, who hosts the fan channel Stretford Paddock, agreed in the same BBC piece: "I don't think Fernandes should play on the weekend." The BBC adds that Bruno isn't being disciplined for what he said after Como and stays captain, while Lisandro Martínez was fined for attacking the club hierarchy after Atlético eight days earlier.

The details:

• Sunday, Oct. 25, 10 a.m. ET (7 a.m. PT), Old Trafford
• Premier League, Matchweek 8 (full schedule)
• US TV: Peacock
• Table: United 15th (7 pts, W1 D4 L2), Bournemouth 17th (6 pts, W1 D3 L3) (the table)
• United's form, last five in all competitions, oldest first: D D L D L

A 10 a.m. kickoff in the East and 7 a.m. out West. The alarm is the easy part this week.

Why he starts

We're seven without a win in all competitions since the 4-0 over Sabah on Sept. 10, and haven't won in the league since beating Ipswich 5-2 on Aug. 30. Sesko, Mainoo, Luke Shaw, Manuel Ugarte and Patrick Dorgu are injured. The Premier League's fantasy injury notes list Rashford as doubtful with a hip problem, and BBC Sport has him ruled out. Martínez is a doubt with his thigh.

Bruno has scored three of our 10 league goals and set up another. BBC Sport notes all four came against Ipswich, which is a fair knock. Take him out, though, and the No. 10 goes back to Youri Tielemans, who the Guardian's Jamie Jackson says has been played there because he lacks the legs for central midfield.

Ferguson said it himself: he's our best player. The armband makes his point without costing us the match.

Play him facing the goal

At Como he started as a false nine with his back to goal, and our recap said that's where it went wrong for him. After half-time he moved to No. 10, with a runner ahead of him and Amad Diallo running at people out wide, and that's when the shots on target came. Put him right behind Bryan Mbeumo, with Amad wide, and leave him there.

Take the armband off him

"We'll be a different team on Sunday. We have to be a different team on Sunday," Carrick said this week, per BBC Sport. A different team starts with who leads it out of the tunnel.

The captain is the manager's voice on the pitch. Bruno used his to tell TNT Sports that the plan at Como was the staff's decision, and so far it has cost him nothing. If Carrick lets Bruno's slide, the next player with a microphone will know the price.

Jackson wrote in the Guardian that there's a case for giving it to a senior man such as Tielemans or Maguire. We'd go Maguire. He has started all seven league matches and played all 630 minutes, so he's the one name sure to be on the team sheet, and the back line that let in four at Como needs the shouting most. Bruno can still be the best player on the pitch without a band on his arm.

Bournemouth

Marco Rose's side are 17th, a point behind us. BBC Sport says Rose got his first Premier League win as their boss this month, and on Thursday night they beat AC Milan 3-0 in the Europa League, their third win from three in Europe. Sports Mole has Alex Toth, Julian Araujo and Alex Scott out with thigh injuries and Junior Kroupi doubtful with his foot.

BBC Sport has Bournemouth drawing 4-4 at Old Trafford last season and winning 3-0 on both visits before that.

The other story Sunday is Carrick's job, and everything on that so far is rumor, from the Guardian's Jamie Jackson, a reporter we rate B, and from BBC Sport. He reports that Eddie Howe is the choice of director of football Jason Wilcox if United make a change, with Julian Nagelsmann highly regarded by head of recruitment Christopher Vivell and Unai Emery "another admired candidate." BBC Sport reports that United have started identifying possible replacements, and both outlets say Carrick is in charge on Sunday. Our odds he's in the dugout: 95%. Our odds he's still there for Chelsea on Oct. 31 if we lose this one: a coin flip at best.

Team news and the projections

Leny Yoro is available again after serving his ban at Como, and Sports Mole and TNT Sports both predict Matthijs de Ligt next to Maguire. Both start Bruno, too, and disagree on where: Sports Mole has him in the middle of the three behind Mbeumo, TNT has Tielemans there and Bruno beside him.

Our pick: United 2-1 Bournemouth

Bournemouth have let in 13 in seven league matches and played in Europe on Thursday night. We've scored one goal or none in seven of our 11 matches this season, so this isn't a rout. Bruno at 10 sets up Mbeumo, the back line gives one away, and somebody finds a second. That's our call, and the recap will grade it.

What would make us wrong: another early goal against, after we were behind inside two minutes in both of our last two Champions League matches. Or Carrick goes with TNT's shape and Bruno drifts out of the middle.

Alarm's set. Coffee's on. Come on, United.

Sources: BBC Sport (should Carrick drop Fernandes?, Carrick on pressing and Sunday, Carrick carrying on, Bournemouth 3-0 AC Milan); the Guardian, Jamie Jackson (Fernandes and the captaincy, how to fix United, Howe and the shortlist); Sports Mole (Carter White); TNT Sports (Ellis Stevens). Numbers from our schedule, table and squad data.