Matchweek 18 of the Premier League was another disappointing week for Manchester United as they were lifeless but it was a strong performance before Christmas for West Ham. The Hammers moved into 6th while Ten Hag’s men dropped to 8th in the table. In their next matches, United host Aston Villa on Boxing Day while David Moyes’ side travel to the Emirates to play Arsenal on the 28th.
I don’t even know what to say about United. They had no attacking threat once again and no creativity at all. They have a great striker in Hojlund but he can’t do anything because he doesn’t get many touches and good service. Even Haaland would struggle here because United don’t create chances and they have no goal threat. They had a lot of possession, 66% of it, but it was mostly back passes. In the game vs Liverpool they also didn’t have a lot of forward passes and that invites press for the opposing team. United struggled to get out of their own half and it was extremely slow from them. Garnacho and Antony weren’t involved much in the game and Fernandes couldn’t find a seam so when your playmakers aren’t involved, it could be troublesome and lead to losses like this one where they lost 2-0. Garnacho is fast but United couldn’t use that to their advantage. In their next game, they have 3rd place Aston Villa at Old Trafford which won’t be much easier so United will have to be much better than this.
West Ham had a great gameplan and David Moyes executed to perfection. They were very firm in the back and soaked up a lot of United pressure but when they got the ball, the Hammers made it count. The counter attack was really threatening and they caused a lot of problems with that. Kudus was brilliant once again and untouchable with his pace. He spurred a lot of attacks and Ten Hag’s players couldn’t deal with him. I thought Bowen and Paqueta were also great and this top line keeps producing for West Ham. Paqueta had more two assists and that makes it 5 in the last 2 league games for him. The two goals they scored were clinical and they made the most of their chances. West Ham play the league leaders in Arsenal next so they’ll need another strong performance in order to beat the flying Gunners.
For the Red Devils, it was their 3rd league defeat in their last 5 games and they pressure keeps building for Erik Ten Hag. For the Hammers, they won their 3rd game in the last 5 Premier League matches and they’ll be looking to continue that momentum against Arsenal. Will Manchester United bounce back and take down 3rd place Aston Villa in their next match? Can West Ham replicate this win and pull of an upset in a London Derby at the Emirates?
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