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Can Michael Carrick’s Manchester United side make it five Premier League wins in a row? We look ahead to Tuesday’s clash at London Stadium with our West Ham vs Man Utd prediction and preview.
West Ham vs Man Utd: The Key Stats
- Manchester United are the favourites for this clash, beating West Ham across 47% of pre-match simulations by the Opta supercomputer.
- Man Utd have lost four of their last six Premier League games against West Ham, more than they had in their previous 28.
- Bruno Fernandes has been involved in 10 goals in his last eight away Premier League appearances (2 goals, 8 assists).
Michael Carrick will hope his return to former club West Ham brings another three points for a resurgent Manchester United on Tuesday.
The former England midfielder came through the youth ranks at West Ham, appearing 136 times for the senior side before leaving for Tottenham in 2004, and then joining Man Utd two seasons later.
He returns south after making an impressive start as United’s caretaker manager in his second spell, winning his first four league games to lift the Red Devils up to fourth in the Premier League table.
Victories against Manchester City, Arsenal and Fulham preceded Saturday’s 2-0 victory over 10-man Spurs, who were undone by goals in either half from Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes at Old Trafford, following a 29th-minute red card shown to visiting captain Cristian Romero.
Carrick’s most notable scalp came last time out on the road, beating leaders Arsenal 3-2 thanks to Matheus Cunha’s eye-catching late winner. The Brazilian will now hope to add to his four goal involvements in five previous away league appearances (three goals, one assist).
However, Cunha has not scored in five Premier League games against West Ham, only facing Man City more without ever finding the net (six). The former Wolves forward should not be short of chances at the London Stadium, though.
United skipper Fernandes has been involved in 10 goals in his last eight away Premier League appearances (two goals, eight assists). His eight away assists this campaign are the joint-most by a Man Utd player in a single season, along with Ryan Giggs in 2001-02, and Fernandes will surely surpass that figure with seven games on the road remaining.
If Fernandes delivers once again, it’s hard to see past United continuing their impressive away form. They have lost just one of their last nine league games on the road (W4 D4), having lost two of their first three this campaign.
United have also won their last two league games away at London sides, against Arsenal and Crystal Palace, but have not managed three straight victories in the capital during the same season since 2019.
But Carrick will know his side must be mindful of Jarrod Bowen, who has scored three goals in his last five Premier League games against United. No West Ham player has scored more than his three against the Red Devils overall in the competition’s history.
Regardless of Bowen’s record, West Ham’s recent form at the London Stadium is largely miserable, managing just four wins from their last 20 Premier League games on home soil (D4 L12). Three of those victories have been against newly-promoted sides, with the Hammers taking just six points from 16 home games against non-promoted teams (W1 D3 L12) in that time.
But Nuno Espírito Santo’s men have battled hard in recent weeks, winning three of their last four league outings (L1), as many as they had in their previous 21 (D5 L13). They secured an important 2-0 win at relegation rivals Burnley on Saturday, where Crysencio Summerville scored for a fifth consecutive appearance across all competitions, while Valentín Castellanos netted his first Premier League goal for the club. The Hammers head into Matchday 26 just three points from safety.
The midweek fixture may offer the hosts some room for further optimism. West Ham have lost just three of their last 15 Premier League home games (W5 D7) played on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, though their most recent such fixture ended in a 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest in early January.
United, by contrast, have won only one of their last nine midweek away games in the competition (D3 L5). They are winless in five (D1 L4) such fixtures since a 4-3 win at Wolves in February 2024, thanks to Kobbie Mainoo’s 97th-minute winner.
Carrick expects no movement on the injury front, with Matthijs de Ligt and Mason Mount set to return later in the month, and Patrick Dorgu sidelined until late March.
Nuno will again be without the suspended Jean-Clair Todibo after his red card for violent conduct at Chelsea, while backup goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski remains out with a back injury.
West Ham vs Man Utd Head-to-Head
West Ham have a good recent record against Manchester United, doing the double over them last season. They also drew 1-1 at Old Trafford in the reverse fixture this campaign as Soungoutou Magassa scored a late equaliser at Old Trafford on 4 December.
However, only once have West Ham avoided defeat in both league meetings with the Red Devils in consecutive campaigns, doing so way back in 1932-33 and 1933-34.
But that historic record could be in danger given West Ham have won each of their last three home league games against United, last having a longer run between 1974 and 1977 (four).
Man Utd have also lost four of their last six Premier League games overall against West Ham (W1 D1), more than they had in their previous 28 (W19 D6 L3).
West Ham vs Man Utd Prediction
The Opta supercomputer struggled to see past an away win as Manchester United came out on top in 47.0% of 10,000 pre-match simulations.
West Ham were afforded a 28.6% chance of victory in the data-led sims, with the draw accounting for 24.4% of scenarios.
West Ham vs Man Utd Predicted Lineups
West Ham United: Alphonse Areola, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Axel Disasi, Konstantinos Mavropanos, El Hadji Malick Diouf, Tomás Soucek, Mateus Fernandes, Jarrod Bowen, Crysencio Summerville, Callum Wilson, Valentín Castellanos.
Head Coach: Nuno Espírito Santo
Manchester United: Senne Lammens, Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martínez, Luke Shaw, Casemiro, Kobbie Mainoo, Bruno Fernandes, Amad Diallo, Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha.
Head Coach: Michael Carrick
Opta Power Rankings
The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system. They assign an ability score to over 15,000 domestic football teams. This score is on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.
Ahead of kick-off on Tuesday, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.
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