West Ham United vs. Manchester United: Which United turns up?

Can Manchester United handle an angry West Ham United at the London Stadium?

Following a North West derby last weekend that saw a Manchester United hold its own against their Merseyside rivalry, Liverpool, another Premier League tie unites the Red Devils with yet another United, but this time of East London as West Ham United hosts Erik ten Hag’s team at the London Stadium.

Both sides will be heading into this clash, perhaps with contrasting fortunes, ironically thanks to a common enemy, Liverpool. For West Ham United, it is their 5-1 defeat at Anfield they have to rue about, and for Manchester United, it is their 0-0 draw at the same ground, they perhaps have to be thankful for.

Though, a 0-0 draw at Anfield may not be the win they hope for, if at all they went to enemy ground looking for the win, the result sets a new confidence heading into this tie versus the Hammers.

But if confidence held any advantage in football, using such term in reference to current Manchester United, may be taking things to a stretch, considering the Red Devils came on the back of a 2-1 win over West-London side, Chelsea 2 weeks prior, only to return at that very weekend to same Old Trafford and face a 0-3 defeat to AFC Bournemouth roughly 3 days later.

Of course, confidence have a play in football no doubt, but Manchester United have become rather a jigsaw that no one knows which side comes about until it comes about.

West Ham United, though silly to consider them as favorites against a club like Manchester United, have more reasons to put up a show against the Red Devils than the Red Devils do against the Hammers.

For the Old Trafford side, it is no longer about avoiding a catastrophic defeat at Anfield in a derby game but getting the 3 points.

However, for West Ham, it is about its front 3 of Mohamed Kudus, Jared Bowen and Lucas Paqueta putting up a show on their home ground after crashing out of the Carabao Cup in a 5-1 defeat that Liverpool would have been happy handing down to Manchester United instead, which raises the question;

Which United are we in for?