Manchester United vs West Ham United 23/07/20

23 July 2020

Manchester United and West Ham United go head-to-head at Old Trafford in a high-stake Premier League contest. While the visitors need one point from the final two league fixtures to avoid relegation, the hosts sit level of points with fourth-placed Leicester City and must win here to boost their hopes of securing Champions League football for the next season.

Although a 3-1 defeat to Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals brought United’s 19-game unbeaten run in various competitions to a halt (W13, D6), the hosts still enjoy a 12-game undefeated streak in the Premier League (W8, D4). Impressively, while all eight of Manchester’s victories during that run yielded a full-time margin of at least two goals, seven saw Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side keep a clean sheet, too. Notably, free-scoring Red Devils have netted an average of 3 goals in their last six top-flight outings, scoring over 1.5 first-half goals on five of those occasions. Solskjaer’s men must be confident of adding a couple of goals to their account here, as they take on a team they’ve bagged over 1.5 goals against in each of their last three competitive H2Hs held at this venue (W3).

Meanwhile, the visitors have overseen an upturn in form lately, going from three consecutive Premier League losses to three wins in five such fixtures (D1, L1). West Ham’s recent resurgence is all about their attacking improvement. Indeed, David Moyes’ players have scored two goals or more in all but one of their last five top-flight outings after struggling to find the net in three applicable games prior. But, Old Trafford has been a fortress the Irons have failed to conquer in their last 14 visits across various competitions (D3, L11). Frustratingly for the traveling fans, the Hammers have drawn a blank in seven of those trips, while scoring precisely once per game in the other seven.