Manchester United entertain West Ham at Old Trafford on Saturday evening looking for a win to keep the pressure on the top four.
United slumped to a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Barcelona in the first leg of our Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday night leaving ourselves a mountain to climb at the Nou Camp next week. Barca are now the firm favourites with www.casinosnz.co.nz to qualify for the semi-finals.
The defeat was United’s fourth in their last five games in all competitions so Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be desperate to get our campaign back on track with a win this weekend.
The Manchester giants lost 2-1 at Wolves last time out in the Premier League and we currently sit sixth in the table, four points off fourth-placed Tottenham and five behind third-placed Chelsea – although the Blues have played a game more.
With the race for Champions League qualification set to go down to the wire, Man Utd cannot afford any slip-ups this weekend against a West Ham side who sit 11th in the table after an inconsistent campaign.
Team news
Alexis Sanchez will be handed a late fitness test after returning to full training following a knee injury while Eric Bailly, Antonio Valencia and Matteo Darmian have all been missing in recent weeks.
Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic will need to be assessed after missing the defeat to Barcelona while Ashley Young and Luke Shaw will both be suspended this weekend.
West Ham have plenty of concerns themselves as Winston Reid, Jack Wilshere, Carlos Sanchez, Andriy Yarmolenko, and Andy Carroll are long-term absentees, while Samir Nasri and Michail Antonio face late fitness tests.
Betting tips
Man Utd have an excellent recent record against West Ham having won eight and drawn two of our last 10 meetings so it’s no surprise casinous has the hosts as the 2/5 favourites to collect all three points on Saturday. The draw is available at 4/1 while the Hammers can be backed at 7/1.
It’s never easy playing after a big Champions League game, especially when trying to bounce back from a defeat to Barcelona, so I’m not expecting a vintage performance from United and we may initially struggle to break West Ham down so 0-0 at half-time looks tempting at odds of 14/5.
However, West Ham have lost seven of their last eight away games and despite their poor recent form, United will be confident of getting the win on home soil in the end. Our prediction is a 2-0 United win, which can be backed at odds of 13/2.
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