Man Utd Team News: Injuries, suspensions and line-up vs West Ham United

Kris Voakes

Man Utd Team News: Injuries, suspensions and line-up vs West Ham United image

Football has been of secondary importance to Manchester United this week following the news that legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson had taken ill on Saturday, but they will be back to business on Thursday when they face West Ham United at London Stadium.

Jose Mourinho's side require just a single point to secure a final Premier League placing of second but they will need an improved showing from the one that saw them lose 1-0 to Brighton & Hove Albion last time out if they are to get their hands on the silver medal with one game to spare.

The Portuguese boss could well make a number of changes too, after castigating his players following the setback at the Amex.


Man Utd injuries


Romelu Lukaku's foot problem is United's stand-out concern as he faces a potential race for fitness ahead of the FA Cup final next week. Ideally, the Belgian would be available for at least one of the closing two Premier League fixtures in order to get him up to match speed, but that currently appears to be more likely on Sunday against Watford than in Thursday's game in Stratford.

Alexis Sanchez didn't make the trip to Brighton as he was carrying a slight knock but the Chilean announced via Instagram that he is fit and ready to face David Moyes' outfit.


Man Utd Suspensions


There are no disciplinary worries for either United or West Ham. The season's final yellow card amnesty has also put paid to any concerns over players of either club being banned for their fixtures at the weekend unless a red card is shown at London Stadium.


Man Utd Potential Starting Line-Up


Mourinho is set to ring the changes once more after his much-altered starting XI turned in a poor performance against Brighton. That could see the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Jesse Lingard, Ander Herrera and more return to the line-up.

The manager took the opportunity following the 1-0 loss on the south coast to point out that many of those championed by the media and supporters were among his more disappointing players on Friday.

"For many months you are always asking me why this player doesn't play, why that player doesn't play, why this player is on the bench, why always Lukaku?" he said.

"You should be disappointed more than me because probably I know my players better than you, and probably you don't know them so well to be always with these questions."

Possible Man Utd XI vs West Ham


West Ham Team News


The pressure is off for West Ham after they earned a superb 2-0 win at Leicester on Saturday to ensure there is no chance of being relegated.

David Moyes, whose name has not carried the same weight in recent years following difficult spells at Manchester United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland, has managed to get a tune out of a fairly fractured squad since taking over from Slaven Bilic and all against a tough background as the fans and board continue to have their differences.

Thursday's fixture will not be the Hammers' final home game though, with another former club of Moyes', Everton, due at London Stadium on Sunday in their last fixture of the Premier League campaign.

Moyes will be hopeful that top scorer Marko Arnautovic will be fit and firing against his old Inter boss Mourinho as West Ham look to end their season with a winning run to put a positive light on an otherwise fraught 12 months. The Austrian was replaced as a precautionary measure during the win at Leicester but should be available to start.

Marko Arnautovic West Ham


TV Channel & Kick-off time


The match at London Stadium kicks off at 19:45 GMT on Thursday, with live coverage available in the UK on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event beginning at 19:30.


Best Opta Match facts


  • West Ham have lost 13 of their last 18 Premier League games against Man Utd (W1 D4), including their only previous meeting at London Stadium last season.

  • Man Utd have only failed to score in one of their last 15 Premier League visits to West Ham, losing 1-0 in December 2006.

  • West Ham haven’t recorded back-to-back Premier League victories since January 2017.

  • Meanwhile, Man Utd haven’t lost back-to-back games in the competition since May last year, when they lost at Arsenal and Tottenham.

  • The Red Devils haven’t won their final away game of a Premier League campaign since 2011-12, when they won at Sunderland but still lost out on the title to Man City. They’ve drawn four and lost once since then, with that one defeat coming at West Ham in 2015-16.

  • Jose Mourinho has won 11 of his 14 meetings with West Ham in all competitions (D2 L1), winning three of his four as Man Utd manager (D1).

  • Mourinho has never lost a Premier League meeting with David Moyes (P10 W7 D3 L0) and has only faced Sam Allardyce (12 games) more without losing than the Scotsman.

  • Including his matches as Chelsea boss, Mourinho has lost 10 of his last 18 Premier League matches played in London (W7 D1).

Kris Voakes

Kris Voakes Photo