West Ham v Manchester United predictions- What do the pundits say?

September 29, 2018 By West Ham Blog 1 Comment

After an encouraging draw against Chelsea last week and a 8-0 thumping of Macclesfield Town on Wednesday, West Ham will be hopeful of a positive result when they take on Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United at home in Round 7’s first kickoff.

United were knocked out of the League Cup in midweek on penalties by Derby County, with more rumours circulating about a fall out between manager Jose Mourinho and star midfielder Paul Pogba after a video of the two at the club’s Carrington training ground emerged on Wednesday.

United were held to a 1-1 draw at home against Wolves last weekend in the Premier League, and already eight points behind leaders Liverpool.

Here is what the pundits predicted for West Ham v Manchester United

Mark Lawrenson: Lawro reckons that United will want to “show people what they are about” and says the Red Devils will win 2-0. He also adds that West Ham will come at United, which will play into the latter’s hands.

Lawro’s celeb opponent this weekend, Karl Pilkington, has said that supporting United currently is “like having a tortoise as a pet“- not entertaining to watch, but the fans have “responsibility to show interest“. He however thinks that the Hammers will continue improving under Pellegrini, and like Wolves, will hold the Red Devils to a 1-1 draw.

Paul Merson: Merson reckons United are “all over the place” and that West Ham “have turned a corner”. Like Pilkington, he’s gone for a 1-1 draw.

Michael Owen: Owen is another who reckons that this will finish in a draw, but says if there was a winner, he thinks the “hosts might nick it”

Summary of predictions

Mark Lawrenson: West Ham 0-2 Man Utd
Karl Pilkington: West Ham 1-1 Man Utd
Paul Merson: West Ham 1-1 Man Utd
Michael Owen: Draw, but West Ham could nick it.

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Media Player Ratings- How did West Ham fare against Sarri’s Chelsea?

September 25, 2018 By West Ham Blog Leave a Comment

West Ham picked up a rather unlikely looking point at home over the weekend when they held Chelsea to a goalless stalemate at the London Stadium. Not only did the Hammers break Chelsea’s 100% league record, they also did it without conceding a goal– an indication that the players may be getting used to the systems put in place by new manager Manuel Pellegrini. Going into this clash, Chelsea were tied with Man City for most league goals scored this season, while West Ham had the second worst defensive record after Fulham.

Both teams had their chances and if the home side had the in-form Marko Arnautovic available to them, they might have even produced a repeat of last season’s upset.

We had a look at the player ratings from various media outlets and compiled them together. The Daily Express thought that Felipe Anderson only merited a 5, while Football.London thought that he was easily the Hammers’ best player on the afternoon, giving him a 9/10. The Daily Mail, somewhat bizarrely, forgot to rate Issa Diop! [Read more…]

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Arnautovic-less West Ham break Chelsea’s 100% record

September 24, 2018 By West Ham Blog Leave a Comment

West Ham continued to build on the progress made away at Everton in Round 5, holding Maurizio Sarri’s Chelsea to a goalless stalemate at the London Stadium. Few, if any, of the 56,875 fans at the stadium would’ve expected the struggling Hammers, sans key forward Marko Arnautovic, to take points off the Blues, who came into the fixture having won all five of their previous games and tied for most goals scored along with Man City.

Instead, West Ham produced a resolute defensive performance which showed their players were getting a hang of the systems implemented by Manuel Pellegrini. It could’ve even been a famous win- there were three very decent chances to the Hammers, two of which would’ve probably been buried by Marko Arnautovic, had he been available.

West Ham made only one change to the side that had beaten Everton, with Michail Antonio coming for the injured Arnautovic in their 4-1-4-1 formation. Antonio’s promotion to the starting XI also allowed Ryan Fredericks to come onto the bench. Chelsea, on the other hand, made 5 changes from the side that had beaten PAOK in the Europa League in midweek. With Pedro injured, Chelsea opted for a front trio of Willian, Giroud and Hazard. [Read more…]

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West Ham v Chelsea predictions- What do the pundits say?

September 21, 2018 By West Ham Blog Leave a Comment

West Ham defied the odds by handing Everton their first league defeat of the season last weekend. This weekend they’re up against Chelsea- Maurizio Sarri’s men are one of only two teams in the league with a 100% record, the other being Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. The Blues have however won only one of their last four games against the Hammers in all competitions and were beaten in the corresponding fixture at the London Stadium last season.

What do the pundits think about West Ham’s chances at the London Stadium this weekend?

Mark Lawrenson: Lawro, for the record, had tipped West Ham to beat Wolves in Round 4, and had also backed Everton to get the better of the Hammers in Round 5. [Read more…]

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Everton 1-3 West Ham | 4-1-4-1 formation gives Pellegrini victory on 65th birthday

September 18, 2018 By West Ham Blog Leave a Comment

West Ham gave manager Manuel Pellegrini a fantastic birthday present as they beat Everton 3-1 at Goodison Park to claim their first points of the season. The Hammers, who had lost their first four games, were under lots of pressure coming into this fixture. Chelsea and Man Utd were their next opponents after the Everton game, meaning a loss at Goodison could potentially see the club start the season with 7 defeats. Add to this their poor H2H record against Everton- the Toffees had won more Premier League games against West Ham than any other club, and the Hammers had only been victorious twice in their last 22 visits to Goodison Park. [Read more…]

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