Preview
Manchester United will host in-form West Ham at Old Trafford on Sunday as they look to keep the pressure on league leaders Manchester City. Despite the league rapidly approaching its end, the Red Devils are still optimistic about their chances of potentially pipping their cross-town rivals to the premiership title. As things stand, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side is 17 points behind the Etihad outfit although they have played two games less than the champions-elect.
United will enter Sunday's clash with the desire to deliver a good response after falling short in the mid-week's Europa League encounter with AC Milan. The Old Trafford outfit was on the cusp of securing a goal advantage ahead of the second-leg trip to San Siro but conceded a late Simon Kjaer header to settle for stalemates ahead. The task has, without doubt, become daunting as a result but the Reds will look to draw inspiration from their recent run of form to turn things around.
Thursday's 1-1 draw with AC Milan took their unbeaten run in all competitions to 12. However, the result simply characterized what has become of the club's form in recent times with seven of the games ending in draws. The significance of this cannot be understated as it has contributed substantially to Solskjaer's side's shortcomings in the quest for the league title. Primarily, the club lacks the defensive tactfulness to see out games and, on Sunday, West Ham could look into expoliting that to their advantage.
The Irons approach the test seated in fifth position and could blow the top-four race wide open should they get the better of Manchester United on Sunday. A series of impressive performances have yielded good outcomes for the London club who are just six points behind the Red Devils on the league log. They have so far managed one defeat across their last six Premier League outings, winning four and drawing the remaining one.
West Ham have fallen short against Manchester United twice already this season. After the 3-1 defeat in the reverse Premier League clash, the Hammers were eliminated from the FA Cup last month as a result of Scott McTominay's goal in extra-tme. As a result, Sunday's meeting presents the perfect opportunity for David Moyes and his men to avenge all the losses they have incurred thus far.
Team News
Paul Pogba will be absent from the Manchester United squad that will take on West Ham at Old Trafford as he is yet to recover from his injury. The Red Devils would also have to deal with the absense of striker Edinson Cavani while Anthony Martial joins the Uruguayan on the treatment table after picking up a hip injury in Thursday's clash with AC Milan.
The availability of Marcus Rashford remains unknown but there is a boost in camp with David De Gea returning from Spain following the birth of his daughter. It however remains unclear whether the goalkeeper will be involved in the match as he is currently in self-isolation.
For West Ham, Masuaku (knee), Ogbonna (ankle), and Yarmolenko (knee) are all not available for the upcoming encounter. Both Darren Randolph and Ryan Fredericks remain doubts while in-form attacker Jesse Lingard will be required to sit out the match. The player he is currently on-loan at the club and, as such, cannot play against his parent club.
Predicted starting XI
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Manchester United: Henderson; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; Fred, McTominay; Rashford, Fernandes, James; Greenwood
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West Ham United: Fabianski; Dawson, Diop, Cresswell; Coufal, Soucek, Rice, Johnson; Bowen, Antonio, Fornals.
Broadcast information
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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