Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola believes Manchester United are currently the ‘best team in the Premier League’ ahead of the Premier League clash between the two on Friday evening.

Since taking over as interim boss after the sacking of Ruben Amorim, Michael Carrick has won seven of his nine games in charge, with only one defeat in that time.

Man Utdnow sit third in the Premier League, three points clear of fourth-placed Aston Villa, and are well on course to secure a place in next season’s Champions League.

That spot in European football’s premier cup competition looks even more likely now, despite only two of the six Premier League teams involved in the UCL reaching the quarter-finals of the competition this week.

The fact that Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace all progressed in their respective competitions on Thursday evening means claiming fifth spot in the Premier League should now be enough to secure Champions League football.

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And, speaking ahead of United’s trip to the south coast, Iraola hailed Carrick’s impact and believes his side have been the standout performers in the Premier League since he replaced Amorim, with a two-game stint from Darren Fletcher in between, back in January.

“I think obviously they are doing very well, it’s not just the results, this is evident, and something very objective, it’s just that they are, for me, more solid,” Iraola said on Thursday.

“Because they have the same threat offensively but they were the same with Ruben [Amorim], they were scoring a lot of goals, having a lot of chances like they are having now, but defensively they look more solid, they haven’t conceded a lot of goals.

“If you see the chances they concede in some games it’s ridiculous, they don’t concede chances a lot of times, and the improvement in points and feeling from this defensive solidity.

“I think we will have to be very good to get a draw because they are playing very well, they are one of the best, if not the best team, right now in the Premier League.

“I think everything is positive, the results are remarkable, I don’t know him [Carrick] personally but I like how he speaks, how he behaves, how he makes everything about the team and the team is playing really well.

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“I think they are doing really well, everything looks fantastic but we have the problem that we have to face them tomorrow [Friday].

“So we will try to find some weaknesses that they have but I’m very happy he’s doing so well.”