West Ham vs. Man U
Venue: London Stadium
Kick off: 2PM
West Ham United will welcome Manchester United to the London Stadium this afternoon feeling confident that they can cause an upset against the Red Devils.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side have only lost once this season and must fancy their chances against a United side whose midfield and attack has fallen short of expectations so far this term.
Aside from an opening weekend 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Manchester City, West Ham have demonstrated a level of tactical acumen and overall technical ability which suggests that they will not, unlike in previous years, spend this season battling relegation.
The club has recognised the importance of continued evolution on the pitch, and the sale of key attacking duo Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez, combined with the signing of Sebastian Haller for £36 million, is a sign of the club refusing to stand still after finishing in a respectable 10th place last season.
Indeed, perhaps the most important position in which one needs to start well at this level is the number nine role, and Haller has done exactly that, scoring three goals from his opening four matches in England – including a brace during a 3-1 win away at Watford.
When it comes to setting yourself apart from teams battling it out at the bottom, the key variable is how precise your football can be in the final third, how regularly you can pin the opposition back around their own box.
Monday’s 0-0 draw at Aston Villa, despite not yielding any goals, was a good illustration of how West Ham possess a level of technical nous which the Midlands side, for all their efforts, do not have the requisite quality to replicate.
Specifically, the nimble duo of Manuel Lanzini and Felipe Anderson, two South American attacking midfielders, combined with the sharp shooting of Andriy Yarmolenko, have given West Ham a certain stylistic edge when taking part in games like the 2-0 home win over Norwich City last month – a relatively even affair ultimately won over by West Ham’s superior ball retention in the last third.
The Irons have worked hard to address this attacking midfield area since the fallow period which followed Dimitri Payet’s departure, and will feel that the aforementioned trio hold the key to causing United’s understaffed midfield a number of problems.
Pellegrini’s men only need to look back to almost exactly one year ago, a 3-1 home win over United, during which Jose Mourinho’s men were simply overrun by a more energetic team, to know that these players have the knowhow and confidence to expose the shortcomings of their visitors this weekend.
Meanwhile, United have responded in the right way to going three games without a win prior to the international break, claiming 1-0 victories over Leicester City and Astana – games in which they were hardly troubled defensively.
However, despite a much-needed pair of victories, the same worrying questions regarding the quality of their midfield and attack continue to linger for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who will be privately concerned at his team’s lack of bite since the opening day 4-0 win over Chelsea.
Since that victory, United have only managed one goal per game, and had to rely on the prodigious talent of 17-year-old Mason Greenwood to find an opening after 70 minutes against Kazakhstani side Astana – a team you would expect any of the top six to roll over quite comfortably.
Despite the team against Astana comprising almost entirely of academy players or rusty squad members, two problems which have impeded United for some time were still there to see: an inability to break down teams playing a low block and a failure to score what Solskjaer calls “scruffy goals”.
At the London Stadium, United will be granted more space in the opposition’s half compared to what was on offer against Leicester and Astana, giving them an improved chance to play the counter-attacking football which has come to be associated with this Solskjaer regime.
West Ham United possible XI: Fabianski, Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Zabaleta, Rice, Noble, Yarmolenko, Lanzini, Anderson, Haller.
Manchester United possible XI: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Young, McTominay, Fred, Pereira, Lingard, Rashford, Greenwood.