Preview: Ronaldo to find his scoring boots now? Antony to continue to add the flair? Casemiro & Eriksen the backbone to the team?

Beating the Hammers is on the cards for Erik ten Hag on Sunday

Manchester United -v- West Ham United

Premier League

Old Trafford, Manchester

Sunday 30 October 2022, KO 16:15 GMT

Manchester United will welcome West Ham United to Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon. Both United and the Hammers were in action on Thursday evening in the Europa League and Europa Conference League respectively, both winning their matches.

United beat Sheriff 3-0 with Diogo Dalot, Marcus Rashford and Cristiano Ronaldo scoring the goals. The Hammer beat Silkeborg 1-0 with Manuel Lanzini scoring the only goal of the match. United are on a seven match unbeaten run following the 6-3 defeat to Manchester City.

The Hammers are currently on a two match winning streak which could be ended by Erik ten Hag’s side on Sunday evening. United will be seeking to get back into the top five, or even the top four if both Chelsea and Newcastle United do not get positive results in their matches this weekend.

Manchester United – Form, Goals Scored & Assists

Sheriff Tiraspol 3-0 W, Chelsea 1-1 D, Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 W, Newcastle United 0-0 D, Omonia Nicosia 1-0 W, Everton 2-1 W

Goals: 6 – Marcus Rashford, 3 – Antony, Anthony Martial, Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, 2 – Bruno Fernandes, 1 – Casemiro, Diogo Dalot, Fred, Own Goal, Scott McTominay

Assists: 4 – Christian Eriksen, 4 – Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw, 1 – Casemiro, Diogo Dalot, Anthony Elanga, Bruno Fernandes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho

West Ham United – Form, Goals Scored & Assists

Silkeborg 1-0 W, Bournemouth 2-0 W, Liverpool 1-0 L, Southampton 1-1 D, Anderlecht 201 W, Fulham 3-1 W

Goals: 4 – Jarrod Bowen, Gianluca Scamacca, 3 – Michail Antonio, 2 – Saïd Benrahma, Manuel Lanzini, 1 – Craig Dawson, Emerson, Pablo Fornals, Declan Rice, Tomás Soucek, Kurt Zouma

Assists: 2 – Michail Antonio, Lucas Paquetá, Declan Rice, 1 – Saïd Benrahma, Maxwel Cornet, Aaron Cresswell, Emerson, Pablo Fornals, Tomás Soucek

Previous Meetings & Connections

United and West Ham have met 52 times in the Premier League. United have won 32 times, drawing 13 times with West Ham winning seven times. United have scored 102 goals, winning five penalties, scoring four. West Ham have scored 46 goals, winning four penalties, scoring three.

United have kept a total of 20 clean sheets with West Ham keeping seven. There have been some disciplinary issues with United players shown 63 yellow cards and four red cards. West Ham players have been shown 73 yellow cards and two red cards.

Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, Michael Carrick, Teddy Sheringham, Javier Hernandez, Carlos Tevez, Roy Carroll, David Bellion, Jonathan Spector, Ravel Morrison and Jesse Lingard have all played for both clubs and probably more in the not too distant past. David Moyes managed United.

Team News

Raphael Varane, Axel Tuanzebe and Brandon Williams remain ruled out of matches at this time due to injury. Aaron Wan-Bissaka is back in training but has a 25% chance of featuring against West Ham, so it is likely that he will be absent once again. Anthony Martial also has a 25% chance.

United welcomed back Harry Maguire and Donny van de Beek both returned in the 3-0 victory over Sheriff in the Europa League on Thursday evening, strengthening the squad ahead of the matches to be played prior to the FIFA World Cup next month. United will be boosted ahead of these matches.

Lucas Paquetá and Maxwel Cornet are both unavailable for the Hammers for their visit to the Theatre of Dreams on Sunday. Craig Dawson will be subject to a late fitness test ahead of Sunday’s match but there is a chance he won’t play. Jarrod Bowen has a 75% chance to be involved on Sunday.

Predicted Manchester United Starting XI – 4-2-3-1

De Gea;

Dalot, Lindelof, Martinez, Shaw;

Casemiro, Eriksen;

Antony, Fernandes, Rashford;

Ronaldo

Predicted West Ham United Starting XI – 4-2-3-1

Fabianski;

Johnson, Zouma, Kehrer, Cresswell;

Soucek, Rice;

Bowen, Fornals, Benrahma;

Antonio

Match Prediction

United and the Hammers have met 149 times in all competitions with United winning 71 times, drawing 32 and losing 46 times. In the last ten matches in all competitions, going back to September 2018, United have won six times, drawn once and lost three times.

United will need to continue their run of seven undefeated matches, extending it to eight matches this weekend, preferably with a win. United have what it takes to beat the Hammers and should do that to prove a point. Breaking into the top four this season is important for Erik ten Hag.

The last defeat to the Hammers came in the Carabao Cup last season in their third round, the first that United had appeared in. United will be up for the challenge the Hammers will bring and they will definitely be up for getting three points in the bag to better their league position.

Manchester United 2-0 West Ham United

Written by John Walker

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I support Manchester United, the greatest English football team to have ever existed. Bruno Fernandes is the latest in a long line of players with great ability to play for the club. I idolised Bryan Robson, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, and Eric Cantona growing up.