Paul Merson has shared his pre-match prediction for West Ham United’s Premier League clash with Manchester United tomorrow.
Just a point separates the two sides in the table but after last night’s affairs at Selhurst Park, Brighton and Hove Albion overtook the Irons to move to eighth through goal difference after drawing 1-1 against Crystal Palace.
West Ham could overtake the Red Devils with a win, although Erik ten Hag’s side must leave with all three points if they want to keep pressure on their rivals in the top-four race. Anything less could see them pulling too far away in the hunt for a Champions League spot, already seventh-placed and six points adrift from the places.
Last term, David de Gea’s early blunder led to Said Benrahma scoring the only goal of the game and David Moyes seeing out a somewhat shocking win on home turf against United. This time out at the London Stadium, he’ll be hoping to pick up a similar result, however, the Hammers’ goal difference of minus one means they could really use a couple more goals to strengthen their position.
Merson’s expectations for the festive clash
Writing on Sportskeeda, Merson shared his verdict: “Wow, this one is a game and a half, isn’t it? You don’t know what you’re going to get with either of these two teams. Take West Ham for instance. They go to Europe and win, go to Tottenham and win and then get hammered by Fulham in the next match.
“Then they win against Freiburg and Wolves only to get pummelled by Liverpool in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup.
“I think Manchester United performed excellently away at Anfield last weekend. If Arsenal went to the Etihad and put in a display like that, we’d be singing praises all day. The Hammers will score goals and I think Manchester United will cause problems as well. Both these teams can be really poor or really good on their day.”
“This game is really tough to predict and I am going to go with a draw,” he concluded, predicting a scoreline of 2-2 by the full-time whistle.
