Can United Defend Away Record Against West Ham?

West Ham will be hoping to steal a win from Manchester United this afternoon in the hope of keeping their faint European dream alive. The Hammers, the home side, lie in eighth position and are just three points behind last season`s Premier League runners-up Liverpool. Thanks to their superior goal difference, three points against the Red Devils would see West Ham supersede the Merseyside club and move to within four points of the final Champions League place.

Manchester United are the club that hold that fourth spot, though they could surpass Southampton with a win over Sam Allardyce`s men in this afternoon`s 4:15 kick-off. A loss would see them remain on points with Spurs in fifth and leave them open to displacement from Mauricio Pochettino`s side and their North London rivals, Arsenal in sixth.

The last time the two sides clashed was at Old Trafford back in September, Manchester United grabbing a 2-1 victory at home. Both Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie put the Reds two to the good within half an hour of kick-off though Diafra Sakho got his side right back in it just before half time. A red card for Rooney saw the Hammers creep back into the game but couldn`t level it up and left the North West empty handed.

As a result of this previous victory and their superior league position, Manchester United are the evens favourites to collect all three points at Upton Park. This price can be found with Betvictor, Coral, paddy Power and william hill. It`s also 17/2 (bet365, william hill) should you think the score will be 2-1 to Louis van Gaal`s Champions League hopefuls once again.

Most bookmakers have priced up a draw at 13/5 whilst a home win is considered unlikely, a massive 16/5 with a number of turf accountants.

There may well be value in this price due to the fact that West Ham have only lost three league matches at home this season, two of these defeats coming in the opening month of the campaign. Since that less than satisfactory August, the Hammers only other Boleyn Ground top tier loss came against Arsenal back at the end of December.

Arsenal`s Santi Cazorla converted a penalty to open the scoring 40 minutes into the 2-1 victory, Danny Welbeck doubling the advantage before half time. Cheikhou Kouyate bagged a goal just after the restart though it turned out to be a mere consolation for the Irons.

Since that defeat, West Ham have racked up three consecutive draws and back-to-back wins in all competitions before falling to a 2-0 defeat away at Liverpool last time out. This was the first time in seven games that the East Londoners had failed to hit the back of the net and can be backed at 1/2 with betfred and betway to score over 0.5 past David De Gea this afternoon.

The Hammers` top scorers from this period have been Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho, both of whom having scored twice in these seven games. The former is available at 11/4 with Coral to hit the back of the net at any time whilst it is 15/2 (boylesports, ladbrokes) should you think Sakho will break the deadlock.

The away side, have not lost a game on the road since their Manchester Derby with City back at the beginning of November. This is eight away games without a defeat in all competitions.

What`s more, United have scored three goals in both of their last two games, the first in a 3-1 victory at home to Leicester whilst the second match ended 3-0 against Cambridge at Old Trafford in the FA Cup.

Van Gaal`s side are 11/2 with William Hill to score exactly three times for the third successive time.

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08/02/2015     © Frixo 2026