Paul Merson predicts result of West Ham United showdown v Manchester United
Paul Merson has predicted that West Ham United will bounce back from their Carabao Cup exit when they face Manchester United on Saturday 23 December.
The Sky Sports pundit believes that David Moyes’ side will quickly return to form following their 5-1 thrashing at Anfield, suggesting the Hammers’ attacking talent will help them earn a point against the Red Devils, predicting a 2-2 draw.
Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United are without a win in their last three games in all competitions, but Merson was encouraged by their draw with Liverpool and believes that the two teams are reasonably evenly matched.
Writing for Sportskeeda (21 December) he said: “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. 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.”
Tough to predict
Merson is right to suggest that this game is almost impossible to predict. If West Ham attack like they did against Wolves, they will have no problem finding the net in Saturday’s clash, but if they defend like they did at Anfield, Manchester United will likely tear them apart.
Ten Hag’s side showed in their last match against Liverpool that they can be incredibly resolute out of possession and if they defend like that against the Hammers, it will take some magic from the likes of Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus to open them up.
These sorts of games against the Premier League’s “big six” can be the difference between finishing mid-table or sneaking into the Europa League places. If the Irons can get a result it will more than likely be huge in the story of their season.
Hopefully, it will be the good version of West Ham that turns up at the London Stadium on Saturday, rather than the one that made the trip to Merseyside and Moyes’ men will claim all three points to start the Christmas celebrations.
In other West Ham news, one talkSPORT broadcaster has slammed Konstantinos Mavropanos for his display against Liverpool