Game week 23 predictions: United and Hammers to share spoils at Old Trafford

Manchester United celebrate after scoring at the London stadium earlier in the season. Will they have cause to celebrate on Saturday? (Photo credit: Premierleague.com)

Manchester United vs Westham
Old Trafford
4:00pm

You think about the first leg and remember the cruelty of football and the uncertainties that trail it, a case of what ifs and whatnot, a late goal by a forgotten man and a penalty miss – by a player that always scores and a goalkeeper that never stops one, strange world of football.

Manchester United won their last league game but you could see the failings of a team lacking in identity, while the manager albeit interim tries to dump his traditional 4-2-2-2 to introduce a fluid 4-3-3, the injection of youngsters seems to be the way forward, but how do you keep Ronaldo happy?

Westham are one of the teams of the season by all standards and even if they do eventually miss out of top four, you would still doff your hats for the good works of the manager David Moyes who now has to visit a ground that gave him more nightmares than sweet dreams with a team of brave warriors.

Westham are above United on the log, how strange but certainly not out of order; Manchester United have been poor and if you take Ronaldo’s goals away from their current points they would sit outside the top ten, so you don’t blame the super star for his reactions after he was removed against Brentford.

Westham lost against Leeds United in a very weird manner, although Jarrod Bowen won’t want to see his missed opportunity at the tail end when he chested a neat Aaron Cresswell cross over the bar when he could just have headed in, his movement however was majestic.

Westham sit 4^th on the log but they have played three more than Spurs in fifth, two more than Arsenal in sixth and one more than their game week opponents United, we all know you can’t count the points until you have earned them, the Hammers will own their 4^th spot with their full chest.

Let’s talk about numbers shall we? The hosts have a +5 goal difference as opposed to the visitors’ +11, in a season of little margins, that can come handy with Arsenal’s +8 being the closest to the Hammers’ numbers in that regard.

United scored three goals against Brentford in midweek, that was the first time they’re scoring three times under Ralph Rangnick, the visitors are not goal shy but their defense ship goals of late and you can blame that on injuries, Covid and suspensions.

Bruno Fernandes is wide awake, his double against Villa and his sensational display against the Bees have earned him the trust of hundreds of thousands of FPL managers and if you haven’t started thinking of bringing him into your team, you might look into that.

Bowen is a player to watch, his numbers are great, seven goals and six assists so far in league games, he has taken on the responsibility of goalscoring since it dried out for Michail Antonio, the Hammers however must manage his minutes as he’s probably their most important player right now.

David Moyes and his teams don’t do well at Old Trafford, he won’t want to look history right now but in the quality of his brave side, he can put his trust and hope the compact set up and high presses would bail him out on Saturday.