Manchester United v West Ham: Premier League predictions, preview & line-ups

                                                                             By Ben Green on Friday, August 11, 2017

Manchester United v West Ham prediction: Jose Mourinho 3 – Slaven Bilic 1.

Manchester United v West Ham: The first Old Trafford game of the season is always a big event and the whole country takes notice.

But, the footballing world is now very aware that Manchester United are a side in the image of their manager.

And, these are the games Mourinho manages well. Goals for Romelu Lukaku and Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez are inevitable.

Manchester United v West Ham preview

The final match of Gameweek 1 in the Premier League should have a lot to offer as we have what appears to be an improving Manchester United.

There were fluency issues last season, perhaps left over from the Lous van Gaal era. But, two major trophies were a seriously good return from Jose Mourinho in his first season at Old Trafford.

New signings Victor Lindelof, Nemanja Matic and Romelu Lukaku are all fit and ready to play. Of the three, only the Swedish defender failed to impress in pre-season.

United could be a world class signing away from being a force again and a good start to the season is imperative. It does look like an enticing fixture list for Mourinho to begin the season with.

Have West Ham strengthened?

Looking ahead to this season, West Ham fans can be entitled to optimism.

Bilic and the West Ham hierarchy have brought in a raft of Premier League proven players at the latter ends of their career.

The signing this week of Sead Hakšabanovic offset the likes of Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta, Marko Arnautovic and Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez.

The Mexican striker returns to Old Trafford on Sunday and the warm reception Chicharito will receive suggests he will surely have an impact on the game.

Manchester United team news v West Ham

Ashley Young, Luke Shaw and Marcus Rojo are all out of this match for the Red Devils.

A similar side to the one that lost to Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup on Tuesday in Skopje has to be expected.

Eric Bailly and Phil Jones missed out versus Los Blancos due to suspension. Victor Lindelof’s current positioning in Jose Mourinho’s thinking will be revealed on Sunday.

Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford are expected to be on the bench. Perhaps this is a day for Juan Mata?

West Ham team news v Manchester United

The Hammers have a long list of injuries.

Sofiane Feghouli, Cheikhou Kouyate, Diafra Sakho, Andy Carroll, Manuel Lanzini and Michail Antonio are all out of the trip to Manchester United.

Lanzini and Antonio were arguably West Ham’s best attacking players last season.

This reflected poorly on the likes of Jonathan Calleri and Simone Zaza so a starting and fired up Javier Hernandez has to make an impact. Surely!

Joe Hart and Pablo Zabaleta will also be keen to impress on debut and thanks to their Manchester City connections.

There have been some internet rumours linking Winston Reid with a move to Everton. But whispers are he is back with the first team for the Old Trafford trip.

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