EPL Odds: Hammers Unlikely to Break United Win Streak
West Ham (+475) vs Manchester United (-143), Draw (+300)
Manchester United (9-6-3, 33 points) will travel to play West Ham (6-4-8, 22 points) on Monday, January 2, at London Stadium for the 20th round of the English Premier League.
Neither team will be at their best when they face off on Monday. The English Football Association has scheduled the 19th and 20th round of the Premier League back-to-back to make way for the third round of the FA Cup, leaving both teams with just one day to rest.
Both teams are coming off a solid win in the 18th fixture. United picked Sunderland apart with a comfy 3-1 victory, and the Hammers made easy work of Swansea with a 4-1 win. United should have an equally comfortable game against Middlesbrough in their next game on Saturday, while Ham will be the underdogs against former champions Leicester City.
United may be out of contention for the league title, but they still have a spot in the Europa League or Champions League to play for. The Red Devils are currently on a four-game winning streak and are undefeated in the last nine games. Currently, they sit in sixth place, three points below Tottenham.
With all the disappointment surrounding United’s performance to start the season, wins against Middlesbrough and West Ham could go a long way in boosting morale. The January transfer window is coming up and rumours surrounding Morgan Schneiderlin, Memphis Depay, and Anthony Martial leaving are rife. Without the promise of a spot in a European tournament, it’s no surprise that these players may be eyeing greener pastures.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been a godsend for United so far this season. The 35-year-old striker has far exceeded expectations, scoring 12 goals already. After him, Juan Mata, Paul Pogba, and Marcus Rashford are tied with only three goals each.
The two teams last met in late November, when United cleaned up with a 4-1 win. And that was without a suspended Paul Pogba and an injured Chris Smalling. West Ham were no match for United then, and their chances are not looking any better now.
Pick: Manchester United (-143)
Photo credit: “Zlatan” by dom fellowes, CC BY-SA 2.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0], via Flickr.
Don Aguero is a man of many talents, writing about nearly anything you can put odds to. Don has been writing for SportsBettingDime since 2015, covering sports, entertainment and politics. You name it, he's covered it! He is also a steadfast West Ham fan, and has learned to embrace that suffering.
