After a poor first half against Brentford, the ‘Red Devils’ produced a much-improved performance after the break with three academy products – Anthony Elanga, Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford – scoring.
Manchester United
Manchester United’s 3-1 over Brentford on Wednesday kept them knocking on the door of the top six as they’ve only lost one of their last nine Premier League fixtures. After a poor first half, the ‘Red Devils’ produced a much-improved performance after the break with three academy products – Anthony Elanga, Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford – scoring. That will have pleased everybody at the club but although Old Trafford is known as the ‘Theatre of Dreams’, it’s induced a few nightmares for ‘Red Devils’ fans this term. That includes conceding first in four of their last six home league fixtures, and failing to score in four of their last eight Premier League games here.
West Ham
West Ham United couldn’t repeat their FA Cup win over Leeds United when they met in the league on Sunday, going down 3-2 with manager David Moyes still unhappy about fixture rearrangements. “The people who are putting the games in place do not understand the importance of recovery,” he said after seeing his side’s four-match unbeaten run end. It marked the fifth consecutive Premier League game in which the ‘Hammers’ had scored 2 goals, although they’ve been slightly less prolific on the road, averaging 1.73 goals per league away match this term. They might head into this fixture two points ahead of Man United (having played a game more), but they haven’t won a PL game at Old Trafford since May 2007!
Bizarrely, Man United’s Scott McTominay has scored in the eighth minute in two of their last three home fixtures, while Jarrod Bowen has netted four times across his side’s last three fixtures – in each match he scored the game’s second goal. Seven of the last nine competitive matches at Old Trafford witnessed scoring within the first 15 minutes.