United got back to winning ways with a win over Crystal Palace last time out thanks to goals by Joshua Zirkzee and Mason Mount. Amorim and his team were in need of those 3 points after the disaster that was Everton in our last home game.
The Hammers provide a similar-ish type of opponent to the Toffees, one that United will be the heavy favourites against but due to that performance in our last home game, nobody will be expecting too much from an untrustworthy side.
Can Ruben's Reds put those concerns to bed, get back-to-back wins and go on another unbeaten run?
Predicted Lineup
With the return of Martinez, there is perhaps a chance that he could start. I feel that if there was a game for him to make it into the XI, West Ham at home would probably be it. However, I don't think that that will be the case as the manager will look to ease him into the side. Substitute appearances is what the butcher will have to be content with for now.
Shaw has also done well in recent weeks and was a standout player with his performance at Palace. Amorim also appears to rate the Englishman quite highly giving me more reason to think that he will continue as LCB.
RCB will see a change. Whether Maguire will make a return or not remains to be seen but if he is back, he will start instead of Yoro with De Ligt moving over to the right.
If not, then I can see Mazraoui playing as RCB over the young Frenchman who's had a tough time of it lately. That performance and subsequent early second half substitution would've knocked his confidence but could be a great lesson for him in the future.
Dalot was another who performed relatively well at Selhurst Park so I can see him keeping his spot at LWB.
We all saw that Cunha is back in training. This gives Amorim a bit of a selection headache in attack.
As Zirkzee and Mount both scored, one would think that they would stay in the side. Mbeumo isn't going to be dropped despite a couple of average games as he has been our best player yet Cunha is such an important man for us as well.
I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Zirkzee benched and the Brazilian start ahead of him. Amorim did this to Sesko when he scored in back-to-back games as Mount came into the team for the Liverpool game. I'm sure Cunha will be 100% too given his time to recover from his injury to now.
I just have a feeling that he will start over the Dutchman and we'll go back to the front three we saw earlier in the campaign. It worked relatively well too.
Approach
Don't know 🤷♂️.
Honestly, other than set-pieces and going long, I really do not know what to expect.
The last two games have shown how we really struggle against oppositions that are tight and give up possession. Actually, we've seen how difficult we find it in the last four as all of Forest, Spurs, Everton and Palace play in this manner that we find frustrating.
Our last win before Sunday was that 4-2 triumph over Brighton at the end of October. The Seagulls play a more open brand that allows United to be more counter-attacking which gets the best out of us.
I don't think we can afford to play like that anymore. This long ball, long throw-in, set-pieces crap can only get you so far and I doubt it will work against sides who like to do the same thing. I feel like the main reason we got the win over Palace was because they played on Thursday night in France and the quick turnaround came into play rather than us completely out-playing them. We also needed two free-kicks to get us those 2 goals as little else was created from open play.
If you look at the first half of that match, it was no different to Everton from a United perspective. The home side were full value for their lead and if not for some key blocks, Amorim would've seen his team go 2 or 3-0 down at halftime.
The second half was an improved performance by United but it coincided with Palace fading away.
However, when you look at the chances, they all came from set-pieces.
That early opportunity for Casemiro was from a long throw-in while the two goals were from free-kicks. We created nothing from open play, something that Oliver Glasner was quick to point out after the game: “I can't remember a big chance (for United) from open play.”
He was right because I can't remember us having too many chances.
West Ham aren't a side that will play possession-based football and carve us open. They too will try to soak up the pressure, frustrate us and look to hit on the break. This is peak Nuno Santo ball which worked in the past against Amorim as his Forest side did the double over United last season.
I'm just personally tired of seeing this anti-football approach from Man Utd. This was a club famous for high-octane, 100mph, in your face football, one that involved a lot of crosses into the box, relentless chance creation and scoring of all sorts of goals.
I feel ya, Didier.
I find that people are also almost accepting o these performances as long as we get a result. The last four games have been pathetic in terms of entertainment and as with Everton, I don't know whether the players will show up.
That last line is the hardest of the lot. Not knowing if your team will give their best is one of the worst things they could do.
And we've seen it far too often.
Form
That defeat to Everton was our only loss in the last seven after that win over Palace. Getting the 3 points at Selhurst Park meant that we moved up to 7th in the table and into those European positions.
Our record now reads six wins, three draws and four losses with 21 scored and 20 scored giving us a total of 21 points. Those 20 conceded is the joint-most in the top 10 along with Liverpool and Brentford. However, the 21 scored is only bettered by the top 3.
This shows that United are good going forward but shit in defense even though we play with five defenders majority of the time.
Make that make sense 😐.
United dropped down to 9th in the home table thanks to that defeat to Everton. We had been close to City at the top before that but it shows how much of an impact one bad game can have.
The problem isn't so much the goals we've scored at Old Trafford (11) but more the 7 we've let in which again, is amongst the most in the top 10. Regardless of performances, we do manage to score at least 2 goals a game but in defense, we concede pretty much the same amount causing us to be in the position we're in.
52% of all our goals have been at home but just 35% have been conceded at Old Trafford.
In the first half table, United are still doing relatively well but due to losing 1-0 at halftime in the last two games, we dropped from 2nd to 5th. Once more, that second half record is still diabolical as we are 18th with a -4 GD.
First half at home sees us in 6th but in the second period at the Theatre, United have zero wins from 45 minutes to the end of the game.
Like many sides in recent history, the Hammers do have the better record over the last five games. United have just the one victory (February 2024) sandwiched between four West Ham triumphs. The aggregate score is 6-4 in their favour with the London side keeping three clean sheets in this time as well.
This recent record includes doing the double over us last season.
However, at Old Trafford, the Hammers have won just three times in 29 trips to Manchester although one of those does include this fixture last season.
West Ham
The Hammers have had quite the season thus far after the sacking of Harry Potter's uncle Graham and the swift appointment of Nuno Santo.
Despite this managerial change, things still haven't gone exactly to plan as they are languishing in 17th and even worse, they suffered a 2-0 home loss in their last match to Liverpool, the ultimate humiliation.
As if things weren't bad enough, am I right?
Santo's side are level on points with Leeds (11) in 18th just above the drop zone. In their 13 matches, West Ham have won just three, drawing two and losing eight with only Burnley and Wolves having lost more. Their goal difference is at -12 which is only worsened by Wolves on -21. The reason for this is because the Hammers have been hammered with goals conceded as they've let in a staggering 27!
Away from home, they are decent sitting in 13th with one win, two draws and three losses giving them 5 points. At home, they are 18th in the home table which would suggest they are better on the road than at the London Stadium meaning this game could work in their favour.
Knowing that the pressure will be on United and that we struggle against teams like them, Nuno Santo could feel a little more confident heading to Old Trafford.
West Ham are also better in the second half of matches whereas we know we have issues in the second period. They are 12th in this table which is above United's lowly 18th 😳. This is why we need to go for it in the first half and try to win the game then.
The Hammers will be without Lucas Paqueta after his red card against Liverpool which will be a big loss for them.
Prediction
Much like the approach, I really don't know how to predict this United side.
If we turn up, I can see us getting a straightforward victory. If we don't, then I'm afraid we will see something similar to Everton last week.
As I said, the Hammers provide what we faced against the Toffees in terms of their style which is precisely what we don't like to come up against. I won't be surprised if what we got from United was utter shite again.
With all that being said though, I believe we'll get a scruffy 2-0 win.
Are these type of wins (if we get it) what's needed though? We need to start seeing a style that we can get behind. Hell, we just need to see any style because I really don't know what we are.
Mason Mount | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)
Old Trafford | Image credit: Getty Images via Goal
Jarrod Bowen | Image via West Ham United official X (@WestHam)