It’s the final weekend of games before Christmas, and Saturday brings six fixtures before the big day. The action begins at 12:30 GMT when West Ham United hosts Manchester United in London, and we expect a thrilling encounter. Will the Hammers deliver a crucial home win to their fans, sending them into the holidays on a high, or will the Red Devils collect an overdue and welcome three points from their visit to the Big Smoke? Our team of football content writers provides their previews and predictions.
West Ham fans have enjoyed a strong start to the season and started the week eighth in the EPL after 17 games. The team from East London hopes to keep improving and push themselves back into the European places, ensuring Conference League football or better at the London Stadium in 2024. Man Utd are one place higher in the pecking order than their hosts, but better is expected, and their chances of securing a top-four finish are fading fast. Which team will snatch a crucial three points in this game? Keep reading for our picks.
Hammers enjoy strong form
West Ham opened this week with their stats for the season so far, showing eight wins, three draws, and six defeats with 29 goals scored and 30 conceded. The home team suffered a rare defeat when losing 5-0 across the city at Craven Cottage to Fulham in one of the strangest and most disappointing results of West Ham’s campaign. They bounced back from that disappointment to defeat FC Freiburg 2-0 in the Europa League group stages and followed that with a home win over Wolves.
The Hammers were the pre-game favourites to defeat the team from Molineux, and fans were delighted to see the players live up to expectations and deliver the goods. They made light work of a Wolves side determined to cause an upset, easing to a 3-0 victory in Stratford at the former Olympic Stadium. Kudus scored the game’s first two goals on 23 and 32 minutes before Bowen struck near the end to finish things off nicely for the Hammers. They’d certainly view a repeat performance against United as a huge result.
Red Devils win one of four
Manchester United arrives in London on the back of a woeful run of form in the English Premier League. In many weeks of this season, we’ve written about how the Red Devils’ form has been poor in relation to their usual high standards. Still, this month has been unacceptable by anyone’s standards, especially in the view of the team’s long-suffering supporters. It’ll be interesting to see if the visitors keep with their current manager or decide to change things in January.
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Man Utd has won one of four games and collected just four of the last dozen points available to them in the top flight of English football. The visitors were last seen in league action earning a goalless draw at Anfield against a Liverpool team that was favourites to land all three points. The draw provided an unexpected point with a title contender after Man Utd lost 3-0 at Old Trafford when hosting AFC Bournemouth and 1-0 when welcoming German Bundesliga team Bayern Munich in the Champions League. United’s most recent victory in the EPL was against Chelsea earlier this month, with the Red Devils battling to a 2-1 victory.
West Ham vs Man Utd prediction
Here, we have a simple game to predict if the tie follows the form. West Ham has collected more points than their opponents in recent weeks and also enjoys a home advantage. They’ll be cheered on by a sizeable audience in East London. If the Hammers continue their strong performances, they have a great chance to sneak a rare win over the Red Devils.
What’s the problem at Man Utd? Is it the players or the coaching staff that needs to go? The board has pumped millions of pounds into improving the squad but without enjoying much return on their investment. Although this isn’t a must-win game for the Red Devils, the visitors are certainly under pressure and know the only way to remove that is to start winning football games, starting with this trip to London.
Premier League odds
Which team will win at the London Stadium on Saturday, in a game broadcast live on television? That remains to be seen, but you can make predictions and enjoy competitive betting odds at 22Bet. West Ham is priced at 2.44 to win, or you can wager on Man Utd at odds of 2.69. Fancy the draw at 3.68?
In addition to the match-winner betting market, 22Bet customers also benefit from a long list of specials. Predict the total number of goals scored in the game, both teams to score, the first goalscorer, handicap, and more. There’s something for everyone.
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