Manchester United welcome Boro to Old Trafford (Getty)

The master meets the apprentice at Old Trafford as Aitor Karanka and his Middlesbrough team travel to face Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United.

Karanka worked under Mourinho during his ill-fated three-year spell at Real Madrid between 2010 and 2013 and still considers the Portuguese to be “a real friend”.

Both men, however, will be hoping for three points, with the hosts looking to extend their Premier League winning streak to five games after Monday’s victory over Sunderland.

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It’s a big game for…

Victor Valdes: The Middlesbrough goalkeeper is going back to Old Trafford where he failed to get much game time under Louis Van Gaal. The Spaniard will be looking to prove to his former employers that he can still do a job between the sticks.

Best stat…

100: This will be the hundredth meeting between Manchester United and Middlesbrough with the former taking 50 wins, Middlesbrough 22 and the 27 other fixtures ending in draws.

Remember when...

Gaizka Mendieta scored the fourth goal in a remarkable 4-1 drubbing of United back in 2005, co-incidentally the last time Boro have triumphed over the Manchester club.

Player to watch…

Henrikh Mkhitaryan: The fan favourite has really impressed since being given more game time by Jose Mourinho. In his first game back from injury on Boxing Day he netted that ingenious scorpion kick in the closing moments. Boro will need to keep the Armenian playmaker quiet to quell any attacks from the hosts.

Past three meetings…

Manchester United 0 Middlesbrough 0 (Middlesbrough win on penalties), EFL Cup, October 2015

Middlesbrough 0 Manchester United 2 (Giggs, Park Ji Sung), Premier League, May 2009

Manchester United 1 (Berbatov) Middlesbrough 0, EFL Cup, December 2008

Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored the winning goal against Tottenham to hand Jose Mourinho his first big scalp in the Premier League (Getty)

Form guide…

Manchester United: DWWWWW

Middlesbrough: DWLLWL

Vital information…

KICK-OFF TIME: 15:00, Saturday 31 December 2016

TV: Highlights on Match of the Day, BBC TWO – 10pm

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Odds…

Manchester United to win: 2/7

Middlesbrough: 12/1

Draw: 5/1