Manchester United travel to the London Stadium Thursday night to take on West Ham United, who are currently led by a familiar face, “the chosen one,” David Moyes. Sir Alex Ferguson’s hand-picked successor has been able to guide the Hammers to securing safety for next season, so they can approach this contest feeling rather loose.
Jose Mourinho’s side can also psychologically relax a bit for this match having already secured a runner-up finish in the Premier League table for the season.
Turning to the fitness report and team news, it looks like United will most likely be without star forwards Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez, as the duo focus on nursing injuries ahead of the FA Cup Final May 19. Of the two, Sanchez is probably the more likely to see some action, but he is a doubt.
Central defender Phil Jones is in contention, while backup goalkeeper Sergio Romero is still recovering from the knee injury that he suffered on the last international break. Flipping over to the Hammers, another personality quite familiar to United, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, is out of commission for this one.
Likewise for Michail Antonio, Winston Reid and Sam Bryam. Additionally, James Collions, Marko Arnautovic and Pedro Obiang are a doubt.
Odds: Man Utd 4/6, draw 5/2, West Ham United 7/2
Man United starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Prediction: United 1, West Ham United 0
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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