Manchester United – West Ham United: Premier League – Live! | Soccer

The 15 o'clock send-off is coming to an end, and it's another bad day for Neil Warnock's blood pressure

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has left three important players – Lindelof, Rashford and McTominay – en route for Tuesday's trip to Barcelona. Marko Arnautovic does not even sit on West Ham.

Manchester United (4-2-3-1) De Gea; Dalot, Smalling, Jones, Rojo; Fred, Pogba; Lingard, Mata, Martial; Lukaku.
Alternates: Romero, Lindelof, Rashford, Pereira, McTominay, Greenwood, Darmian.

West Ham United (4-2-3-1) Fabianski; Zabaleta, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Masuaku; Noble, rice; Snodgrbad, Lanzini, Anderson; Hernandez.
Alternates: Adrian, Obiang, Diop, Fredericks, Antonio, Netherlands, Diangana.

Arbitrator Graham Scott.

Good afternoon. Let's go to Sunday, February 18, 1990. It was the day Manchester United won 3-2 at Newcastle in a brilliant fifth round FA Cup match. After the match, they were forced to play Sheffield United in the quarterfinals, and Gerald Sinstadt of the BBC asked two scorers, Brian McClair and Danny Wallace, to say what they had done in the draw.

"It's another away game," said Wallace, "so we're very happy with that." That was a striking comment, given the well-established concept of local football advantage in the badociations. But at this point, Alex Ferguson's United had not won at Old Trafford for over three months, so Wallace's comment was understandable.

Things are not so bad this season. "Three weeks of excuses and it's still shit, ta-ra Ole" was not seen on any banners. But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team also seems more comfortable away from Old Trafford. All their best results and performances under Solskjaer were obtained in London or Paris – no surprise, given that their main strengths are the pace and the movement rather than the spirit and the talent.

The result is that what would normally be a good run-in, with four home games against six, is more difficult to evaluate. Even this home game against West Ham does not seem like a sure thing. But United really needs a win tonight: keep his title to rank among the top four, restore order after four defeats in five games and remember that playing at home can be an advantage.

The kickoff is given at 5.30pm.