Manchester United will be eyeing a fifth-straight Premier League win when they take on West Ham United at the London Stadium this evening.
The Red Devils have been exceptional since Michael Carrick became the interim head coach and are currently placed fourth in the standings.
A top-five finish could be enough to qualify for the Champions League next season. United are five points ahead of sixth-placed Liverpool, as things stand.
United have had an average record against the Hammers in the last six meetings with just one win, and will be determined to end on the winning side.
Ahead of the clash, we don’t anticipate more than one change to the starting XI.
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Predicted Line-up:
Senne Lammens has played every minute in goal since making his debut against Sunderland in October. The Belgian has kept four clean sheets and will be eyeing another shutout at the London Stadium.
The backline could stay unchanged once more. Despite the short turnaround from the Spurs game on Saturday, Carrick should stick with the same back four of Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw, given that United don’t play again until February 23 at Everton. There is plenty of time to recover after the east London trip.
Similarly, the midfield could stay the same. Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo have been a revelation as a pairing. The latter produced his best performance of the campaign in the 2-0 victory over Spurs. There is the temptation to start Manuel Ugarte over Casemiro, given the short recovery time from the weekend, but Carrick may not contemplate a change.
In the final third, Carrick could make a slight tweak from the last couple of matches. The Hammers are one of the league’s in-form teams and have picked up nine points from the last four outings. They possess a genuine threat from either wing through Crysensio Summerville and Jarrod Bowen.
United’s wingers may have to track back to help out in defence. Matheus Cunha, 26, has a slight weakness when it comes to out of possession play. Hence, we fancy Bryan Mbeumo to start on the left wing against the Hammers with Amad Diallo slotting on the opposite end.
Benjamin Sesko could be preferred to lead the line ahead of Cunha too. The Slovenian’s good aerial presence and ability to make runs behind the Hammers’ defence could come in handy. The young striker could make his first start under Carrick’s tutelage.
Bruno Fernandes is an undisputed starter in the number 10 position for United. The Portuguese has managed 18 goal contributions across all competitions for the Red Devils this campaign. He scored a late second goal against Spurs, and will aim to score against the Hammers for the first time.
How Man Utd could line up vs West Ham
Stats from Transfermarkt.com