There’s a huge game for both Manchester United and West Ham this weekend as the two face off at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.
It’s a game that both sets of fans here in the Transfer Tavern know they need three points from – and for very different reasons.
The visitors from London know that they could be in the bottom three by the time kick-off comes, whilst United will be looking to make some ground up on the leading pack before it gets too insurmountable.
The Old Trafford outfit know that they can compete with the top clubs after last weekend, whilst West Ham suffered late drama of their own as they threw away a 2-1 victory against Spurs to lose 3-2.
They’ll be looking to prove themselves at Old Trafford, then, but our landlord reckons if Jose Mourinho goes with this line-up United will take the three points…
GK: David De Gea
David De Gea will always start.
He’s simply world class and Manchester United just do not have another goalkeeper like him.
RB: Antonio Valencia
Valencia is United’s first choice right-back for now so you’d imagine he will play once again.
He did well against Arsenal and so a repeat performance will be expected.
CB: Phil Jones
The man with a thousand faces is benefitting from the absences of Chris Smalling and Eric Bailly so will play.
He needs to use this time to prove himself to Jose Mourinho.
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Again, United are short on centre backs and so Rojo will have to fill in here.
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LB: Daley Blind
Nearly all Manchester United fans would rather see Daley Blind in the side than Matteo Darmian, so that is what Mourinho needs to do.
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The midfielder is back in the team and United fans are ecstatic. He still offers such a great deal and so he surely must play here.
Expect him to control the tempo of the game and set up most of United’s attacks.
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The Spaniard has been one of the Red Devil’s best players this season.
He is also United’s next best deep lying midfielder after Carrick and so needs to be playing alongside him as much as possible ready to receive that baton.
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Rashford is now one of the first names on the team-sheet and so must surely start against West Ham.
He hasn’t scored as much as he’d like but has done a solid job in an unfamiliar position.
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We’re still waiting for Pogba to truly ignite but you can bet Mourinho will still play him here in the hope that he does.
Eventually, the Frenchman will come good – and against the struggling Hammers, he may finally produce.
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The French attacker has gone off the boil this season and needs to start finding last season’s form if he wants to remain an integral part of the side.
Players like Jesse Lingard have come to the fore and so now he needs to start raising his game.
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Ibra is back from suspension and will want to show that he is still the main man when it comes to goals with a strong display against the Hammers.
He hasn’t scored at the rate we saw at PSG but he still carries a very large threat to West Ham.
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