The Green Street Hammers predict: West Ham United v Man United
By Louis Pye
After a successful week for West Ham – winning their first fixture of the Europa League season away to Dinamo Zagreb – the Hammers now look forward to hosting Man United at London Stadium.
The victory away in Croatia on Thursday was both a fantastic performance and result, which showed that David Moyes’ men are not just competing in the Europa League to simply make up the numbers, and the team will look to carry on such momentum against a Manchester United side who boast players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba.
West Ham have now gone eight competitive games unbeaten – a record that extends back to last season.
On the other hand, despite losing in their respective European game on Tuesday, the Red Devils will have had an extra two days rest compared to the Hammers, which could swing the tie in their favour.
Moyes will not be worrying about that, however, and he has shown time and time again that he believes in his players to go out onto the pitch and get a positive result.
So what do the staff at Green Street Hammers believe will happen on Sunday? Will West Ham maintain their unbeaten start to the season or will this be a test too far?
Jimmy: West Ham 1-2 Man Utd
If everyone was fit I would say this is a game the Hammers could get something out of, but with two key attackers missing it may be a struggle.
Antonio will be missing due to his red card from last week and reports suggest that Benrahma picked up a knock against Zagreb. I still think Moyes will be able to adapt and have his squad put up a good fight but ultimately I believe Manchester United will be able to edge out a victory.
Finn: West Ham 1-2 Man Utd
I think we will struggle without Antonio and will hope to hit them on the break and make the most of set-pieces. Hopefully Zouma can make a difference at both ends of the pitch but I think it will be very difficult to stop United from scoring.
James: West Ham 0-2 Man Utd
Manchester United has added some real quality to the team over the summer, not at least Raphael Varane and the return of icon Cristiano Ronaldo. These signings have produced good results, given that Man United is unbeaten in the league this season.
West Ham will need to set up strongly and I’d go for a back five to really contain United’s dominant threat. However, United has that quality and attacking danger to break down any team in any way, and I unfortunately can’t see West Ham winning this.
Louis: West Ham 1-1 Man Utd
Seeing as everybody else has predicted a loss, whilst understandably so, I think I have a duty to bring some form of positivity towards the Hammers.
We have gone five games unbeaten to start the season and we look incredibly difficult to defeat, whether that be because we are scoring at a high rate or keeping clean sheets – such as the last two games.
Man Utd’s attack is frightening to say the least, but we are more than capable of putting their defence under pressure too – even without Antonio.
Mia: West Ham 1-1 Man Utd
Similar to Louis, I believe West Ham can really test Man Utd. The Hammers are coming into the game with great confidence after a fantastic start to their UEFA Europa League campaign and despite United having arguably the best team in the Premier League, they are not unbeatable.
Losing Antonio definitely leaves us without such an attacking threat, but we have plenty of high-quality attacking options that are more than capable of scoring goals.
Finally, the addition of Kurt Zouma in the backline of the West Ham defence only makes our case stronger to hold off the Reds.