Manchester United – West Ham preview: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Red Devils need to get off the mat after a disappointing weekend when they host improved but desperate West Ham at Old Trafford on Wednesday (Watch live at 1 pm ET on NBCSN and online via NBCSports.com).
Manchester United was overwhelmed by Chelsea in the FA Cup semifinal on Sunday but must quickly regroup with top four positioning in question.
STREAM MANCHESTER UNITED – WEST HAM LIVE
The fifth-place Red Devils have 62 points, level with Leicester City who they’ll meet on the season’s final day. Both sides are a point back of Chelsea.
Back-to-back wins have pulled West Ham six points clear of the bottom three, and David Moyes’ men can just about taste another PL season. A point against his former club will do the trick.
Team news
Man United will not have Axel Tuanzebe and Phil Jones, while Luke Shaw miss out through injury and so to does Eric Bailly after a nasty head injury. Aaron Wan-Bissaka is on the bench with Timothy Fosu-Mensah at right back, with Brandon Williams staying at left back.
📋 Your #MUFC XI for our penultimate #PL clash of 2019/20!#MUNWHU
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 22, 2020
West Ham’s injury list has shrunk to the absent Ryan Fredericks and Robert Snodgrass, as David Moyes names an unchanged starting lineup from the team which beat Watford last time out.
📋 The team is in! Here's how we line up for #MUNWHU pic.twitter.com/x6rF9EVnMN
— West Ham United (@WestHam) July 22, 2020
What they’re saying
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on the run toward Champions League qualification: “Of course we can’t do anything about that but it’s between us, Chelsea, and Leicester for those two last positions and the more help we get from others the better, of course, but if we do our job on Wednesday we’ll be in a good position. We’ll go into the Leicester game and hope that if we win that one we can qualify. We’ve just got to regroup and go again on Wednesday against West Ham.”
West Ham’s Robert Snodgrass on Mark Noble marking 500 games for the club: “I don’t think Nobes gets a lot of credit for how good he actually is. He’s a brilliant player. He’s a brilliant man. He’s a brilliant captain. I think what separates him from the rest is that he knows what the Club means over the last 20 years. Obviously growing up supporting it as a boy, then coming through the Academy, then playing in the first team, and then going on to lead the team, he knows the full ins and outs, he knows everything about it, he knows the people, and he obviously lives and breathes the Club.”
Odds and ends
Man United needs this and is at Old Trafford. The odds reflect that, with the hosts at minus-360 and West Ham at +950. A draw is going +480, according to DraftKings.
West Ham actually beat the Red Devils in September when Manuel Pellegrini oversaw a 2-0 triumph in London. The goals came from Aaron Cresswell and Andriy Yarmolenko.
Prediction
West Ham might find a way onto the scoreboard given Man United’s recent problems at the back but the stung Red Devils rested up for this one thanks to Solskjaer’s odd lineup choices versus Chelsea in the FA Cup semifinal. Look for Mason Greenwood to find the score sheet in a 3-1 home win.
How to watch Manchester United – West Ham stream, start time
Kickoff: 1 pm ET Wednesday
TV Channel: NBCSN
Online: Stream via NBCSports.com