Match Preview : West Ham VS Manchester United

Manchester United travel to East London this Sunday to take on West Ham United.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s boys come into this fixture following a run of two consecutive clean sheets against Leicester City and FC Astana respectively. Manchester United seem to have found some form as they sit 4th in the Premier League after 8 games. Solskjaer will be hoping his side can maintain their record of the joint least goals conceded in the league this season.

The Europa League game in midweek saw 9 changes to the side that played in the 1-0 win against Leicester. The likes of Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka were all rested so you’d expect them to start at the Olympic Stadium.

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Marcus Rashford, despite playing the full 90 minutes vs. FC Astana, will also be expected to start as Solskjaer confirmed in his press conference that Pogba, Martial and Shaw are all out for the West Ham game. So once again, United are up against it.

I personally would love to see Mason Greenwood given a start after a brilliantly taken goal in midweek. Robin Van Greenwood should definitely be involved. As for the other Youth lads that were involved against Astana, I don’t see them starting but what a massive statement it would be if Ole involved them.

Opposition

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Our opponents West Ham sit in 9th going into this weekend on equal points to ourselves. The only thing separating us is goal difference which shows how high the stakes are in this game.

Last season in the same fixture Manchester United were embarrassed 3-1 under Mourinho. Arnautovic, Yarmelenko, and Felipe Anderson were rampant, dominating the likes of Smalling and Scott McTominay who ended up in a back 3. In that game, Manchester United had possession and a lot of effort but failed to create clear cut chances… Sound familiar?

Manuel Pelligrini will be hoping for more of the same from West Ham. The Hammers have won 2 of their last 4 home games against Manchester United, a statistic they will be hoping to maintain with star-man Sebastien Haller. Their big summer signing has begun life in East London reasonably well scoring 3 in his opening 6 Premier League games for the Claret and Blues. The Frenchman will likely be their biggest threat this Sunday, his physical presence may cause problems for Victor Lindelof.

An away day against West Ham is the sort of game you need to win if we are to finish top 4. That I think we will do – Greenwood winner incoming.