Chris Sutton has made a bold claim about West Ham United’s clash with Man United but Paul Merson disagrees.
The top six is calling for the victors when West Ham welcome Manchester United to the London Stadium on Saturday lunchtime.
Both West Ham and Man United have played Liverpool this week. And both found out the big gulf in class in different ways.
Manchester United were completely dominated but managed to dig in for a 0-0 draw in the Premier League. West Ham meanwhile were smashed 5-1 in the Carabao Cup.
That point for Man United kept them above West Ham. But victory for the Hammers against Erik ten Hag’s under pressure side would see them rise up above Newcastle for a few hours at least.
Fans of both clubs don’t know what to expect from their sides at the moment.
But how do the pundits see it?
Chris Sutton makes a bold claim about the West Ham clash with Man United but Paul Merson disagrees.
Speaking on BBC Sport, Sutton says he was impressed by the way West Ham went at Wolves in the 3-0 win last weekend. And he was completely unimpressed by Manchester United. So he’s backing the Hammers to win 2-1.
“Manchester United parked the bus at Anfield, so will they do that here too? I don’t think so,” Sutton said.
“I actually think West Ham will beat them, though. I often go for them to draw games, but I liked the way they went at Wolves.
“In contrast, I wasn’t impressed by Erik ten Hag’s side at all. They may celebrate their draw with Liverpool but United fans should not be carried away with the way they got it – that just sums up how far they have fallen.”
Merson told Sportskeeda that both side’s unpredictability makes picking a winner difficult. But he does not think West Ham will lose to Man United at home, predicting a 2-2 draw.
“Wow, this one is a game and a half, isn’t it?” Merson said.
“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. If Arsenal went to the Etihad and put in a display like that, we’d be singing praises all day. 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.”
READ ALSO
Furious Ray Winstone savages David Moyes for ‘bottling’ West Ham cup chance.
David Moyes delivers Michail Antonio update.
Tony Cottee makes shocking admission about what he did at Liverpool.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
