Can the Hammers do battle on two fronts?
Two sides who were in midweek European action to differing fortunes lock horns at the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Manchester United are odds on favourites to take all three points and bounce back from their shock 2-1 Champions League defeat to Young Boys. West Ham United made an excellent start to life in the Europa League, Michail Antonio and Declan Rice got on the scoresheet in a 2-0 win at Dinamo Zagreb. A dreamy week for Hammers supporters with a trip to Croatia followed by hosting the Red Devils, it will be interesting to see how they deal with Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Background
Football is played on grass and not paper, but the depth in the visitors’ squad compared to David Moyes’ is incomparable. There are such layers of quality in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s club it is hard to turn them down against West Ham are a nice price on the nose.
The squad will be embarrassed and hurt from their defeat in Switzerland and determined to make amends on Sunday, even though Solskjaer is possibly the most under-qualified manager in the Premier League, the squad of players at his disposal is ridiculous compared to that of Moyes.
A little exacerbated by their opening day thumping of Leeds United, Manchester United are the Premier League’s top scorers and should breach the Hammers’ backline with ease on Sunday. The linkup between Fernandes and Ronaldo is growing and the former produced a wonderful assist for his countryman in midweek, it is yet to be seen who will be on penalties for the Red Devils but for now their relationship looks very promising.
Mason Greenwood and Anthony Martial will probably come back into the side and pose a threat on the break. The Red Devils are the league leaders on goals scored with a +8 goal difference and there will be no let up at the London Stadium, an overs punt is appealing but with the price on an away win we do not need to complicate this selection.
The Hammers are yet to prove they can handle European football and continue to push on domestically, Manchester United’s depth should carry them through here.
Post bet chat Marcus's Tips:
A little fortunate here after Mark Noble's late penalty was saved. 2-1 Man U.