Why West Ham’s clean sheet streak could be in jeopardy against Manchester United

Two weeks separated by the international break and two clean sheets for West Ham’s backline and keeper. The 5-0 drubbing from Manchester City didn’t instill faith in the supporters but recent form has changed this, is it sustainable though?

The Negative

The obvious change to the back four is Arthur Masuaku being out with a red card suspension. The yellow card that took him out of the match was an atrocious call, but with it not rescinded, the Hammers will have to carry on without their starting left-back which, despite his performance against Villa, is going to be difficult.

Masuaku had been the best left-back in Europe for the week of August 30th-September 1st, showing his ability to stabilize the team and help the attack against Brighton, Watford, and Norwich for his recent form.

The question becomes: who will replace Masuaku in the starting XI? Pablo Zabaleta came off the bench to play left-back, which he’s been known to do sparingly for Pellegrini, but it’s his offside. Many are calling for Ben Johnson to play his offside in an effort to not have Aaron Cresswell start against Manchester United.

It’s a tough decision. Cresswell brings positional awareness but doesn’t offer much going forward or defensively anymore. Zabaleta is the most well-rounded option but is on his off side which would limit his functionality for 90 minutes. Johnson is dual footed and quick, which would help handle the speed of the Manchester United attack.

The positives

The biggest positive that suggests West Ham will be okay against Manchester United is that the center-back duo of Issa Diop and Angelo Ogbonna is in fine form and showed again against Aston Villa that they don’t make life easy on their opposition. Should injury factor in, Fabian Balbuena has full faith to step into the backline, too.

Having the trump card of Lukasz Fabianski doesn’t hurt either. Our Hammer of the Year for last season was superb again against Villa, stopping five shots, including some unbelievable saves, and nearly knocking out El Ghazi with a clearance.

Another factor in the clean sheets potentially continuing is the health of Manchester United heading into this match. On Tuesday the Reds trained without Daniel James, Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw. These are four undisputed starters for Manchester United, and significantly cut their teams speed and potential effectiveness in holding possession and attacking the Hammers.

West Ham will need to attack quickly and start hungry in order to push the Reds attack back, capitalizing on their injuries and thin squad. There are arguably more positives for the Hammers heading into this match than negatives so a win could be in the cards!