Manchester United welcome West Ham to Old Trafford after walking away with a win against Brentford on Thursday.

In the first half of the Brentford game, United looked like a lost bunch of men on the field, and were dominated by a well-drilled Brentford side. After the break, the Red Devils looked like a whole different beast, as they changed their approach to the game, and finished with a 3-1 win, in no small part thanks to heroics from keeper David De Gea.

Following the win against Brentford, Manchester United currently sit 7th in the Premier League standings, with 35 points and are on par with 6th placed Arsenal. With a win over West Ham, United will be catapulted into 4th, surpassing West Ham.

West Ham meanwhile have just experienced a shock defeat to a struggling Leeds United, going down 3-2 courtesy of a Jack Harrison hattrick. Both teams had their respective issues to deal with, as West Ham had just played 3 games in the span of 8 days, while the Leeds squad was ravaged by injuries. The defeat means that West Ham has given up precious ground in the race for the top 4, with Tottenham, Arsenal, and Manchester United all breathing down their necks.

As for the lineups, Manchester United will be without midfielder Paul Pogba as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury since November last year. That shouldn’t raise any serious concerns for Ralf Rangnick however, as he has plenty of options in the middle of the park, with Fred and Scott McTominay stepping up to fill some seriously large shoes in recent weeks.

West Ham does find itself in somewhat of a pickle, though. While they are only missing centre-back Angelo Ogbonna due to an ACL injury, David Moyes will struggle fielding a squad fit for a match of such magnitude. As players struggle to recover on such a short notice, West Ham will need to play their cards right to hold on to that top 4 spot.

Their last 5 meetings have overwhelmingly gone the way of United, with the Red Devils winning on 4 occasions and losing only once. Things only look more grim for West Ham considering that their worn out squad will be facing a revitalised United.

Ralf Rangnick also seems to be adapting to the problems at United, and taking bold steps to correct them, as was made evident when he hauled Cristiano Ronaldo off in the game against West Ham, and was seen speaking to him as Marcus Rashford scored United’s third goal against Brentford. United fans can only hope and wait and see.

Our verdict is that United will be winning this game 2-0, as Rangnick gets a better feel for his United squad and West Ham continue to struggle for fitness.