Manchester United (7th, 35 points) could overtake West Ham (4th, 37 points) for the coveted fourth place in the English Premier League table if they can beat the Hammers in a head-to-head clash at Old Trafford .
The Red Devils have been unconvincing of late, beating Brentford 3-1 on Wednesday despite a poor first-half performance in which goalkeeper David De Gea was once again forced to make big saves. It is a credit to the quality of the squad that Man United have yet managed to put together a 4W-1L-2D record in the Premier League under interim manager Ralf Rangnick.
Fourth place was the minimum league goal set by Cristiano Ronaldo for his club in a recent interview: it is a place that would guarantee a place in next season’s lucrative Champions League. Moving into that position on Saturday will require doing something they’ve never done with Rangnick: win back-to-back league games.
But West Ham also have aspirations for fourth place and Champions League football next season and the Hammers won’t be an easy out despite a struggling history at Old Trafford (winless since 2007) and a loss to Manchester United. United earlier this season. David Moyes’s team should be well-rested after playing Sunday for the last time, plus his team has a couple of their influential figures back for this one (lineups below).
Sporting News will follow the match live and provide live scores updates, commentary and highlights as they happen.
| 1 HOUR | 2H | Final | |
| united man | — | — | — |
| western ham | — | — | — |
(All times Eastern)
Here is David Moyes’ explanation of goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski’s absence from the match:
Moyes on Fabianski: “Like any other club, we have some injuries and some COVID [cases], so we will have to play with what we have. It’s unfortunate that Łukasz misses out, he has been playing very well for us this year.” https://t.co/UYcM1O1BqX
—Tom Clark (@_thomasjclark) January 22, 2022
There were some doubts about a neck injury that would leave Ronaldo out of the squad. he is starting:
Declan Rice, rumored to be a candidate for a move to Man United in the future, should be a major factor in this game.
Manchester United vs. West Ham line-ups
Despite taking some hits, the veterans are already in the squad, with Ronaldo starting. it is a bereavement absence after the death of a family member kept him out of the midweek game against Brentford.
The missing players for this one are the injured and (hamstring), and the defender who is in the African Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast. he is out sick, while the defender misses the game to be with his family after his house was raided last week.
1-David De Gea (GK) — 27-Alex Telles, 5-Harry Maguire, 19-Raphael Varane, 20-Diogo Dalot — 17-Fred, 39-Scott McTominay — 36-Anthony Elanga, 18-Bruno Fernandes, 11- Mason Greenwood—7-Cristiano Ronaldo
26-Dean Henderson (GK), 4-Phil Jones, 8-Juan Mata, 31-Nemanja Matic, 34-Donny van de Beek, 14-Jesse Lingard, 25-Jadon Sancho, 10-Marcus Rashford, 21-Edinson Cavani
Questions for manager David Moyes revolved around the fitness of (recent bout with COVID-19) and center back (extended absence due to hamstring injury), but both are back in the starting lineup. Although he was available after Algeria’s elimination in the African Cup of Nations group stage, he is not in the squad.
The starting goalkeeper is not on the roster, but it is unclear if it is related to an injury or if it is a case of COVID-19 and Moyes does not specify.
13-Alphonse Areola (GK) — 3-Aaron Cresswell, 4-Kurt Zouma, 15-Craig Dawson, 5-Vladimir Coufal — 41-Declan Rice, 28-Tomas Soucek — 8-Pablo Fornals, 10-Manuel Lanzini, 20- Jarrod Bowen—9-Michail Antonio
35-Darren Randolph (GK), 24-Ryan Fredericks, 23-Issa Diop, 31-Ben Johnson, 26-Arthur Masuaku, 33-Alex Kral, 16-Mark Noble, 7-Andriy Yarmolenko, 11-Nikola Vlasic
- Date: Saturday, January 22
- Hour: 10 a.m. Eastern Time
- Television channel: – None –
- Spanish TV: – None –
- Transmission: Peacock (subscription required)
The match Manchester United vs. West Ham is available exclusively on the NBC Peacock streaming platform.
Manchester United Vs. west ham odds
Odds courtesy of DraftKings
- money line: Manchester United +100 / Draw +275 / West Ham +260
- Spread: Manchester United -0.5 (+105) / West Ham +0.5 (-120)
- O/U 2.5 total goals: Over -155 / Under +125
- Both teams score: Yes -185 / No +140