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11 min: The current xG is 0.03 to 0, which is about right.
10 min: Martinez scoops a long pass down the inside-left channel to release Bruno Fernandes. He’s one on one with the keeper, Hermansen rushing out from his area, but lobs harmlessly over the bar. And it turns out he was offside anyway.
9 min: Summerville curls a pacy cross in from the left. Bowen flicks it towards the right-hand side of goal. The ball sails well wide, but had that been on target, the planted Lammens wasn’t getting to it. That was the end of a confident passing move that started with the keeper and moved upfield from right wing to left. Not the sort of move you’d expect from a team in the relegation places, which is a good sign for the Hammers.
7 min: Bowen strips Mbeumo of possession in the centre circle and advances down the right. Mbeumo makes up for his error by chasing back and reclaiming possession. It’s all a bit scrappy in these early exchanges, tell the truth.
5 min: Bowen sends that corner in from the right, but Lammens punches it clear with supreme confidence.
4 min: Diallo sets Lammens a poser with a backpass, Castellanos hovering around. The keeper clears, but West Ham press forward again, forcing Maguire into a misplaced clearance that leads to the first corner of the game.
2 min: A fairly quiet start as both teams size each other up. Cunha crosses from the left towards nobody in particular. Goal kick. In the meantime, here’s Hugh Collins: “If you had said start of season that Carrick would face Nuno, with one manager fighting for Champions League and the other fighting for survival, it would have made all the sense in the world. But not this way.”
That version of Bubbles with the bouncy bassline ends, the whistle goes, and Manchester United get the ball rolling. A roar from all four corners.
The teams are out! West Ham United sport their famous claret and blue, while Manchester United wear their second-choice kit of “snowflake … with flashes of purple and lilac.” A rare old noise at the London Stadium ahead of a fixture that delivers, one way or another, more often than not. We’ll be off in a minute!
Michael Carrick talks to TNT Sports. “[West Ham] are definitely on a good run … the league table is irrelevant … over the years it’s always been a good game down here and a tough place to come … they have got some good attacking players … we have got to be ready … we have got to be good to win the game … we want to be a team … to play together and have good connections when we have the ball and haven’t got the ball … we want individuals to express themselves … we have managed to get a good balance … there’s a lot of work to do … improvements … the boys are in a good place … we’re not getting carried away … but obviously coming here with a lot of confidence … there’s more to push … the boys are in a good rhythm so we’ll go with that tonight.”
Here’s how the Premier League table looks before this match. Manchester United can overtake Aston Villa with a win; they’d be third or fourth depending on the result of Chelsea-Leeds. Meanwhile at the bottom West Ham have the chance to close the gap on Nottingham Forest, one way or another. They’d need an unlikely four-goal win tonight if they’re to overtake Sean Dyche’s strugglers.
What’s that heady aroma of cedarwood, leather, lavender, talcum powder and pomade? Why, you’ve just wandered into the Official Guardian Barbershop! “My Manchester United supporting friend is desperate for a win so that bloke can get a haircut and he can stop hearing about him,” sighs Jakob Mathiszig-Lee.
Kieran McKintosh adds, because we’re all thinking it: “I wonder how Frank Ilett [for it is he] is feeling right now? West Ham stoppage-time equaliser, here we come!”
For those who have somehow managed to swerve this story, social-media personality Ilett (pictured below) [subs please check] hasn’t had a haircut for 16 months after refusing to get one until Manchester United won five games in a row. And so here we are, nearly 500 days and 25 centimetres later.
Nuno Espírito Santo speaks to TNT Sports. “We are organised and competing better … a lot of commitment from the players … enjoying the game … we cannot ignore the way Man United play … they are in a very good moment … a good dynamic … to have an extra body in midfield [in Freddie Potts] can help us … we start with three in the middle, let’s see how the game goes … [Manchester United] have a player that can unbalance everything in Bruno Fernandes, so we have to be really spot on.”
Manchester United haven’t had much luck against West Ham of late. This fixture last season was the straw that did for Erik ten Hag’s camel …
… and West Ham nearly saw off Ten Hag’s successor in short order when completing the league double over Manchester United towards the tail end of the campaign …
… but Amorim held on. For a bit. He’d last barely a month after this …
… and so now West Ham are in a position where they’re facing a third Manchester United manager in 14 months. If they avoid defeat tonight, they will be four unbeaten against the Red Devils across two consecutive campaigns for the first time since 1932-33/1933-34.
Both teams are in a good place right now, so changes to the starting XIs are thin on the ground. West Ham make one after their win at Burnley last weekend: Freddie Potts comes in for Callum Wilson, who drops to the bench. Manchester United meanwhile are again unchanged, naming the same starting XI for the third game in a row, after their home victories over Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur.
The teams
West Ham United: Hermansen, Wan-Bissaka, Disasi, Mavropanos, Diouf, Bowen, Soucek, Potts, Summerville, Fernandes, Castellanos.
Subs: Areola, Walker-Peters, Kilman, Wilson, Traore, Magassa, Scarles, Kante, Mayers.
Manchester United: Lammens, Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw, Mainoo, Casemiro, Diallo, Fernandes, Cunha, Mbeumo.
Subs: Bayindir, Mazraoui, Zirkzee, Malacia, Yoro, Ugarte, Heaven, Sesko, Tyler Fletcher.
Referee: Simon Hooper
VAR: Craig Pawson
Preamble
Manchester United’s current form under Michael Carrick has been well documented. However West Ham’s isn’t half bad either: three wins out of the last four for the Irons, with the single loss a staunch showing at in-form Chelsea. Throw in the fact that West Ham, fighting for their Premier League status, have won each of the last three stagings of this fixture, while Manchester United have emerged victorious from their last two visits to London, and this is balanced rather deliciously. Kick-off is at 8.15pm GMT. It’s on!
