Top-four hopefuls Manchester United and West Ham United will go toe-to-toe in a highly-anticipated Premier League game of the weekend, with both desperate for the three points, at Old Trafford on Saturday evening with kickoff at 18:00.
Manchester United have struggled this season with the club needing to change their manager in the middle of the season to better their results which appears to be working, but in a wary and slow manner as they have had a share of ups and downs ever since Ralf Rangnick to over from Ole Gunnar.
The club has been seen to be relaying on their goalkeeper David de Gea to save them from time to time throughout the campaign and once against de Gea did his part well in their previous match against Brentford at away as he was forced to bail his side out on one or two dangerous occasions, before Ralf Rangnick’s side found their goal scoring touch in the second half to eventually seeing off Brentford in the 3-1 victory.
The victory saw them bounce back from their two-match winless run that saw them lose to Wolves and draw with Aston Villa where they drew away a 2-0 lead with only 13 minutes remaining in the match.
The Red Devils are also still outside the top four as they currently rank seventh level on 35 points with the sixth-placed Arsenal who have played one match less and are two points behind fourth-placed West Ham who have played one match more.
Therefore a win on Saturday for United could certainly blow the Champions League race wide open and that’s just what Rangnick would want from his side.
Meanwhile West Ham have been blowing hot and cold this season but generally the Hammers have been impressive and are clinging onto that fourth and final Champions League spot by the thinnest of thread, with Man United, Tottenham and Arsenal all applying pressure.
David Moyes’ side is coming off a bitter 3-2 defeat to Leeds United with former Man City man Jack Harrison sinking them with his third on the day. The defeat ended their four-match winning streak across all competitions and it was a blow to their Champions League ambitions as they now sit one point above Tottenham who have played three matches less and two above both Arsenal and Man United who have played at least one match less.
They will therefore be desperate for the three points going into the match and they will be feeling confident as they have already bot the better of Man United at Old Trafford in this season’s League Cup.
Man United vs West Ham head to head
Both sides have met in 60 encounters since 1993 with Man United claiming 36 victories while West Ham have claimed nine victory and there have been 15 draws.
- Man United 0-1 West Ham 22/09/21
- West Ham 1-2 Man United 19/09/21
- Man United 1-0 West Ham 14/03/21
- Man United 1-0 West Ham 09/02/21
- West Ham 1-3 Man United 05/12/20
Home
- Brentford 1-3 Man United
- Aston Villa 2-2 Man United
- Man United 1-0 Aston Villa
- Man United 0-1 Wolverhampton
- Man United 3-1 Burnley
Away
- West Ham 2-3 Leeds
- West Ham 2-0 Norwich
- West Ham 2-0 Leeds
- Palace 2-3 West Ham
- Watford 1-4 West Ham
Man United team news
Man United will be without Paul Pogba and Aaron Wan-Bissaka due to injuries while Eric Bailly is representing Ivory Coast in the ongoing AFCON.
West Ham team news
West Ham will be without Angelo Ogbonna, Kurt Zouma and Mark Noble through injuries, while Thomas Soucek will miss due to testing positive for coronavirus and Said Benrahma is representing Algeria in the Africa Cup of Nations and thus is unavailable.
Prediction and odds
- Draw
- Both sides to score
- Goals over 2.5
