Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Manchester United already find themselves 12 points off the top going into Today’s home fixture with West Ham and the deficit to the Champions League places stands at 6 and after just one win in the last six matches this game simply is a must win.
It’s also a must win for West Ham but for differing reasons. They are only on the right side of the dotted relegation side thanks to Hull’s miserable goal difference and with Swansea and Sunderland now finding winning ways the bottom of the table is now starting to tighten up.
Thursday saw United steamroller over Feyenoord in Europa League action. Wayne Rooney was on hand to score in a 4-0 win to make him the clubs record goalscorer in Europe with that win now putting knockout qualification back in their own hands.
That win came after what was a frustrating draw at home to Arsenal last Saturday. United were on top for large periods of the game but failed to kill The Gunners off when they had the chance and Oliver Giroud’s late header meant the two sides had to make do with sharing the points.
And their opponents West Ham know whats it like to concede late goals. As last week the conceded two to see a 2-1 lead overturned by Tottenham. Heartbreak for The Hammers and to add insult to injury they finished the game with 10 men after the red card to Winston Reid.
That sending off means that the New Zealand international will subsequently miss today’s game through suspension and that will obviously be a hammer blow (pun intended). The question now for Slaven Bilic is whether or not he continues with three at the back or goes to a back four due to a lack of defensive personnel.
A couple of positives for The Hammers is the fact that they can recall Mark Noble to the side after he missed the Tottenham game through suspension and Pedro Obiang should also be fit to start despite the Spaniard suffering an ankle injury.
For United the focus will be on whether or not Wayne Rooney has done enough to regain a league starting place. After impressing against Feyenoord he will be clamouring for recall especially as he is just one goal from equalling the all time Manchester United scoring record set by Sir Bobby Charlton.
One player who looks set to be recalled will be Zlatan Ibrahimovic who missed the Arsenal clash due to picking up a fifth booking of the season away at Swansea before the international break. Could there even be a recall for Henrikh Mkhitaryan after he was back in the United fold on Thursday.
And due to the options that Jose Mourinho has at his disposal you would obviously have to make them favourites going into today’s encounter. West Ham haven’t won in their last three matches and I can see that being four by the end of the day. A home win for me.
