Sunday sees West Ham United host Manchester United in a match-up that looks really unfavorable for the home side. The Irons have been hammered by United over the course of the last 20 matches and tomorrow doesn’t look, at least on paper, like it’ll be any better.
The visitors, currently on a historically stellar run of away form, are heavily favored. This will be the first of two meetings within four days between the two sides. They’ll line ’em up again on Wednesday in the EFL Cup, but for now, let’s preview this match.
Manchester United at West Ham United FYIs
Kickoff: Sun, Sept. 19, London Stadium
Weekly Premier League Preview Podcast: go here
Team News United West Ham
Starting XI Predictions United West Ham
Odds: United 4/5 West Ham 16/5 Draw 11/4
West Ham manager David Moyes, facing one of his many former clubs, only has one selection issue to worry about- striker Michael Antonio, who is suspended for this one.
Otherwise everyone else is in the squad is available for him to pick in his first team.
West Ham United Starting XI Prediction vs Manchester United
Alphonse Areola; Aaron Cresswell, Angelo Ogbonna, Kurt Zouma, Vladimir Coufal; Thomas Soucek, Declan Rice; Said Benrahma, Pablo Fornals, Jarrod Bowen; Nikola Vlasic
Prediction: United 3, West Ham 2
Couldn’t focus the intro on how one-sided the series has been lately, and then not pick the visitors, am I right? West Ham are off to a solid start, after a surprisingly successful season in 2020-21, but I only see an L here.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.