Preview: Manchester United vs West Ham

Manchester United vs West Ham
Date: Saturday, 20-12-2013
Time: 15:00 GMT
Venue: Old Trafford
Referee: Mike Jones

Manchester United come into the game on the back of a 2-0 victory over Stoke City, away from home in the Capital One Cup. David Moyes will certainly be looking to now take this positive momentum into the very important Christmas period and go on a long winning run. The Red Devils have slowly managed to bring about some sort of positivity back with three consecutive victories in three different competitions.

The next task would be to now slowly make their way up the table and look to be in the top 4 before February. The manager would certainly look at the the clubs form at Old Trafford and be worried that he hasn't managed to do well at home as he has done away from home. The players themselves would be now hoping they could pick up more points at home and win games. More goals and more positivity in their play are two things that the current Premier League Champions will need to look at. A more settled back 5 will also help settle things at the back.

West Ham will also travel to Old Trafford after having seen off Tottenham in the quarter finals of the Capital One Cup. Now Sam Allardyce will turn his attention back to the Premier League where the Hammers are currently just above the relegation zone. A loss or draw against United and a win for either Crystal Palace or Fulham would mean they would end the week in the relegation zone. They will not be helped by the fact that the club hasn't won an away game since their victory over Spurs in October. United's home form though will help their confidence in avoiding a defeat, while West Ham's away form will be something that Moyes will look at as an opportunity to notch another win and improve the Red Devils home form.

One sub-plot of the game will be the return of Ravel Morrison back to his old club, Manchester United. It will be interesting to see if Allardyce starts the Englishman and the kind of response Morrison gets from the home fans. While he was at United, the management tried to do all that they could to try and keep him away from his off-field troubles but failed to do so and decided it was best that he moved into a new environment.

Ravel Morrison Resurrected
Picture courtesy: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

This has certainly helped the talented attacking midfielder and he has now forced his way into the West Ham first side this season while also making his way into the England U-21 side. Could he come back and haunt his old club?

Manchester United Team News

The injuries keep piling up for David Moyes and it is not an ideal situation to be in with the Christmas Period now upon us. With games coming thick and fast having Van Persie and Carrick missing wouldn't have been something that Moyes would've wanted and now Nani has joined them as well, expected to miss around two weeks of the football action. The big blow for this weekend though comes in the form of Wayne Rooney, who is touch and go right now for the game at the weekend. Moyes will be keen to feature the English striker from the start but would be cautious in not to further cause harm to Rooney as he would want him to feature in the busy schedule ahead. The forward will have a late fitness test on Saturday before the manager makes any decision over his involvement tomorrow.


Last Six Games: Manchester United vs West Ham United

Picture Courtesy: ww.whoscored.com

Manchester United would like to keep this run of victories over West Ham going and notch another home win this season.

Predicted Starting XI

Though you can expect Wayne Rooney to start instead of either Welbeck or Chicharito in case he is passed fit for the game.

Predictions

All things put together, I expect Manchester United to walk away with a victory but it sure won't be easy.  A 2-1 victory over the Hammers. Though a clean sheet would be nice as well.

Post your predictions in the comments section below.