Manchester United are enjoying a resurgence in their form this winter, and José Mourinho is leading his team into London for a match with West Ham United — and a chance to put some serious heat on the top four teams in the English Premier League.
West Ham vs. Manchester United 2017: Start time, live stream, TV schedule, and 3 things to know
Manchester United can put themselves on the cusp of the top four with a win.
Photo by James Baylis - AMA/Getty Images
United are just three points behind both Tottenham Hotspur and rivals Manchester City, who currently sit in fourth and fifth place. Their weakness in goal differential means that United can’t pass either team yet thanks to tiebreakers, but just being able to pull even with those teams means that United can pile pressure on by removing all of their room for error.
United are still a long ways off from challenging for the title, but their current position is certainly a far cry better than they looked a couple of months ago. If Manchester United keep managing to slowly improve like this, by the time the season ends their eyes may be aiming two or three places higher in the table than just fourth.
TV: NBCSN (U.S. - English), NBC Universo (U.S. - Spanish), Sky Sports 1/HD (U.K.)
Online: NBC Sports Live (U.S.), Sky Go (U.K.)
Match Date/Time: Monday, 12:15 p.m. ET, 5:15 p.m. local
Venue: London Stadium, London, England
Three big things to know
- Like in any of the earlier matches in the day, fatigue is going to be a major factor in this match, but it’s probably going to hit West Ham a lot harder than it will Manchester United. West Ham don’t have near the depth their opponents do thanks to injuries, and thanks to the chaos of the holiday period, what depth the Hammers have has been worn down to a nub.
- Manchester United have rather enjoyed the holiday period, putting together a lengthy winning streak and going on their best run of team form all season. A big part of that has been the duo of Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic stepping up and leading the team on the pitch, with fantastic individual performances that have helped lift and improve the rest of the squad.
- If there is any real opportunity for West Ham to surprise fans and get something out of this match, it will be by taking advantage of United and their still shaky defense. Mourinho’s side has had issues keeping clean sheets against smaller clubs of late, and if West Ham can use that frailty to score an early goal or two, that could be their ticket to a surprise win.
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