Saturday's game will be the sixth time the pair will have faced each other in the Premier League, the last of which the Reds won 2-0 in April, thanks to goals from Chris Smalling and Romelu Lukaku.
And speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday, Howe expressed his admiration for the United manager.
“I've had some good exchanges with Jose Mourinho,”
he said.
“When I was in my early stages of management, he was someone I looked towards. He has an incredible CV.
“It's early in the season and Manchester United have shown that they've improved in recent games.