West Ham certainly showed some spirit in the second half against Chelsea on Monday, but they didn’t do enough to rescue a point.
They will be facing a United side on Saturday coming off the back of a home defeat against Barcelona in the Champions League.
Since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed permanent manager, results haven’t been particularly impressive, and the Hammers will take heart from United’s last home Premier League game where they struggled to put away Watford.
Manager Manuel Pellegrini will be without Andy Carroll, with the striker having been ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury. The 30-year-old’s contract expires in the summer so he may have played his last game for the club.
The Irons also have a number of other injury issues heading into the game. Michail Antonio (ankle) and Samir Nasri (calf) are doubts, while Jack Wilshere is still not fit enough to play despite featuring for the Under 23s against Leicester on Sunday.
Andriy Yarmolenko (Achilles) and Winston Reid (knee) have been ruled out for the season, while Carlos Sanchez (knee) is also unlikely to feature again before the end of the campaign.
West Ham’s Predicted XI To Face Manchester United:
Fabianski, Zabaleta, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Snodgrass, Rice, Noble, Felipe Anderson, Lanzini, Hernandez
United also have their fair share of fitness problems. Nemanja Matic (muscular) and Ander Herrera (knock) both missed the defeat to Barca, while Eric Bailly is sidelined with a concussion.
Alexis Sanchez is still recovering from a medial ligament injury but could be back on the bench this weekend, while Matteo Darmian has been out with a knock for the best part of three months. The fullback’s last appearance came against Brighton back in January.
Manchester United’s Predicted XI:
De Gea, Young, Smalling, Lindelof, Shaw, Pogba, McTominay, Fred, Lingard, Rashford, Martial
The bookmakers make the home side favourites with Betfred having United at 4/9 to win. A draw is 17/4 with Betway while a victory for West Ham is 7/1 at 888 Sport.
Predicted Score – 2-0 to United
