West Ham United take on Manchester United in the Premier League on Thursday after their game against Liverpool this weekend.
Manchester United visit Crystal Palace on Sunday and will be without their big-money summer signing Matheus Cunha.
Ruben Amorim confirmed that the Brazil international has not recovered from the minor knock in training that had kept him out of the game against Everton as well.
Ruben Amorim, Manchester United head coach
Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images
Matheus Cunha expected to be fit against West Ham
Amorim made it clear in the press conference ahead of the Crystal Palace game that Cunha is expected to return against the Hammers.
He said: “I expect to have Matheus in the next one [West Ham United on Thursday], not this one.”
Cunha moved to Old Trafford in the summer, with Manchester United triggering his release clause at Wolves.
Hear everything Nuno Espirito Santo said before West Ham v Liverpool
The Manchester outfit ended up paying £62.5million for the 26-year-old, but he is yet to hit the ground running.
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While he has shown promise, he has found the back of the net just once in 10 Premier League games.
This has already been the second instance of him suffering an injury and it remains to be seen if he’ll be cleared to start against the Hammers or if he will be brought off the bench.
West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo watches on during the win over Burnley
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
Nuno must take advantage of Manchester United’s recent slump
Ahead of the Crystal Palace game, Manchester United are winless in three games and lost at home to Everton despite being a man up for more than an hour.
The momentum that Amorim seemed to have built appears to have evaporated and if they fail to beat Palace, Nuno will relish his side’s chances of getting something from the game even more.
That does not mean that West Ham’s game against Liverpool won’t count for anything and a big defeat there could shake the confidence of the Hammers players as well.
It’s important for them to first focus on getting something from the game and being hard to beat against Arne Slot’s side and then focusing on putting in a good performance on Thursday night.
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