Manchester United v West Ham Preview – Devil’s to turn the screw on the Hammers

25/11/2016 | Categories: Football | Published by: AC

Updated: 10/06/2023

Manchester United v West Ham Preview for the match on 27 November, Old Trafford at 16:30 hrs

Manchester United v West Ham Preview and Score Predictions

In what would have been a first in the current 2016-17 Premier League season, West Ham came close to meting out Tottenham their first defeat. But a double-strike by Harry Kane during injury time denied the Hammers that honour. For West Ham, the two goals came from the usual suspects Michail Antonio and Manuel Lanzini, both of whom are top scorers for their side this season with six and three goals apiece. Slaven Bilic will rely on Antonio to find the back of net at Old Trafford when the Hammers clash with Manchester United on November 27.

The Hammers are in the relegation zone with just 11 points earned from their 12 games. Most of their 7 losses have come against teams of the top-half, which doesn't bode well for their coming encounter with the Red Devils, not that United are going through a great patch. Placed at 6th on the EPL table at 19 points and a distant 6 points away from 5th placed Tottenham, the Red Devils have mustered up just one win from their last half-a-dozen outings. Their last game against Arsenal saw some cohesion upfront among the likes of Pogba, Mata, Rashford and Martial as evinced from the number of times they were able to penetrate the Gunners' penalty box.

The return of Ibrahimovic from a one-match suspension should give the United attack more bite going into the clash against West Ham.

But the defence still remains a problem for United and with the threat of the opportunistic Antonio and players of the caliber of Manuel Lanzini and Dimitri Payet orchestrating attacks, the host goal can never be safe.

But it's the Hammers propensity to leak goals that will let them down. Slaven Bilic's side have let in 23 goals from their 12 games, which works out to an average of 2 goals per match, making their numbers the second worst after Hull City’s.

For Manchester United, playing at home in Old Trafford against a bottom-rung team will give them a shot at earning three more points and remain entrenched in the sixth spot. For West Ham one more defeat would mean slipping further into relegation status. A scoreline of 3-1 or 4-1 in favour of the hosts can be expected.