West Ham United boss David Moyes must defy demands from fans and do it his way at Manchester United today.
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That’s according to BBC Sport pundit Mark Lawrenson.
West Ham go to Old Trafford boosted by the prospect of facing a seriously depleted Man United side.
Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Edinson Cavani are all expected to miss the West Ham game.
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So too are Paul Pogba, David de Gea, Donny van de Beek and Juan Mata.
West Ham fans feel they may never get a better chance to beat the Red Devils.
And at a time when it would mean so much in the battle for Europe.
A win would put West Ham just three points off second placed Man United WITH a game in hand.
With Everton losing and Chelsea failing to win at Leeds, it would be advantage West Ham in the battle for the top four.
As a result many West Ham fans want to see Moyes set his side up to go toe-to-toe with Man United.
West Ham proved a tough nut to crack in the FA Cup defeat at Old Trafford last month, eventually losing in extra-time.
Fans want West Ham to go for it against depleted Man United but Lawro warns that will play into their hands
But some supporters feel Moyes sets up too defensively and negatively against the top sides even when they are out of sorts or – as in Man United’s case – weakened by injuries.
Now Lawro has told Moyes to defy the urge to go at Man United if West Ham want to win.
That’s because he believes the Red Devils struggle against sides who set out to defend and frustrate.
“West Ham will bring a different sort of problem for United (than in their 2-0 win over Man City last week) and it is one that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have not always solved this season,” Lawrenson said on BBC Sport.
“Rather than going at them, like City did, the Hammers will sit in and United will have to take the game to them.
“The Hammers carry plenty of attacking threat too, though, and both sides will be full of confidence.
‘I’m expecting a much livelier match than last month’
“It could be very close, but I’m expecting it to be much livelier than when West Ham came to Old Trafford in the FA Cup last month.”
Lawro predicts a 2-1 win for Man United.
But then we shouldn’t take too much notice of the former Liverpool man’s predictions.
West Ham would be 11th on 35 points with a -5 goal difference according to Lawro’s predictions this season.
And he famously had West Ham as relegation candidates during the 2015/16 Farewell Boleyn campaign – when Dimitri Payet inspired the club to its record Premier League points total.
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