On rare occasions during the Premier League season games take place on strange days and this week we have a Thursday night match to look forward to between West Ham United and Manchester United.
The Hammers start this match in 15th place and thanks to the meeting between Swansea City and Southampton on Tuesday night, know they are safe. If they win their remaining two games this season, there is a possibility they could finish close to the top half of the table.
Manchester United have one thought in their mind and that’s to secure second place. It’s not the ideal scenario for a team which expected to compete for the title this season but it will give the fans something to shout about over Liverpool and Chelsea supporters.
West Ham come into this match having defeated Leicester City 2-0 away from home on weekend. It was a huge result for David Moyes and his players and only their second win in their last nine Premier League games.
Trends show West Ham have lost two of their last six Premier League games but both defeats have been heavy losses at the hands of Manchester City and Arsenal. However, West Ham held Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at home will be happy with a similar result from this match.
West Ham have lost two of their last nine home matches in all competitions.
Manchester United travel to the London Stadium following a very disappointing 1-0 defeat at Burnley on Friday night. That was Manchester United’s first defeat in four matches but they have lost to each of the three promoted teams this season, which is a poor record.
Trends show Manchester United have won nine of their last twelve games in all competitions and are undefeated in five of their last six away matches. The Red Devils have been inconsistent on their travels in the Premier League and have won three and lost three of their last six away games.
Each time Manchester United have lost, they have failed to score a single goal and Jose Mourinho will be looking to address that issue in this match. Interestingly, trends show Manchester United are undefeated in sixteen of their last seventeen games against West Ham in all competitions.
Team news and West Ham still have a long injury list with Pedro Obiang, Winston Reid, Sam Byram, and Michail Antonio on the treatment table. Central defender James Collins is also a doubt, so David Moyes may go with the same starting XI from the match at Leicester.
Manchester United travel with several doubts including Sergio Romero, Romelu Lukaku, Phil Jones and Alexis Sanchez. The Chile international is the most likely to make a return having missed out at Brighton.
The pressure will be on Manchester United to deliver the goods following their defeat at Brighton. A similar performance and result in this match will not be tolerated and given their excellent record over West Ham, Manchester United should seal second place with a win.