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How Manchester United could line up against West Ham United

Sports Mole looks at how Manchester United could line up for Wednesday's crucial Premier League showdown with West Ham United at Old Trafford.

Manchester United will be looking to bounce back from their FA Cup exit and take the initiative in the top-four race when they welcome West Ham United to Old Trafford on Wednesday evening.

The Red Devils were well beaten by Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday, but also saw Leicester City lose earlier that afternoon to leave Champions League qualification firmly in their hands with two games of the season remaining.

Only a draw is needed for Man United to go into their likely winner-takes-all final-day showdown at Leicester sitting in the top four, which they have not done since September.

Here, Sports Mole looks at how Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could line his side up for the contest.



Possible MNU XI vs. WHU

Out: Eric Bailly (head), Phil Jones (knock), Axel Tuanzebe (unspecified)
Doubtful: Luke Shaw (ankle)

> Click here for Manchester United's latest injury and suspension news ahead of this match

Eric Bailly learned the painful way that Harry Maguire's head is harder than most things when the two accidentally clashed skulls at Wembley, leaving the Ivorian in a dizzied state.

Bailly was eventually stretchered away in a neck brace before being taken to hospital and, while he has now been released, concussion protocols mean that he will not feature in this game and is highly unlikely to do so on the final day either.

The centre-back may have been in line to drop out of the team anyway with Solskjaer expected to revert back to the 4-2-3-1 formation which has served United so well recently.

Mason Greenwood, Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba are likely to return to leave Man United with their full complement of an attacking quintet in prolific form - between those three, Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes they have either scored or assisted 21 of the team's 22 goals since the restart, including each of the last 16.

Fernandes alone has been directly involved in more goals than any other Premier League player since making his debut in February, while Rashford and Martial have assisted each other more often this term than any duo in a single season in United's Premier League history.

Luke Shaw is still a major doubt with an ankle injury, but Brandon Williams returned at the weekend and is ready to start again should his fellow left-back fall short.

There will also be plenty of focus on David de Gea after the latest in a growing list of mistakes, although Solskjaer has so far been unflinching in his support of the Spaniard.

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Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount celebrates after scoring against Manchester United via a mistake from David de Gea on July 19, 2020
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
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