Fresh from winning the League Cup, Manchester United hunt for more silverware this season with a FA Cup fifth-round tie against West Ham to play next at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils eliminated Reading from the fourth round by a 3-1 win while West Ham defeated Derby County 2-0 to reach this stage of the competition.
MUN vs WHU Match Details
Date: Wednesday, 1 March 2023 / Thursday, 2 March 2023
Time: 20:45 (BST) / 01:15 (IST)
Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester
MUN vs WHU Match Preview
After just nine months in charge of the club, Erik ten Hag managed to hand Manchester United their first piece of silverware in winning the League Cup as the first Dutch manager in the history of the competition. It ended the longest trophy doubt the club ever had of six years since the period between 1977-1983. Against a Newcastle United team equally determined to add their first trophy under the new ownership, the Red Devils showed how far they have come by scoring through Casemiro’s header from a free-kick and a Marcus Rashford strike in the span of seven minutes to seal the trophy in the first half itself. This was also the last domestic title they won in 2017 along with the Europa League, both under Jose Mourinho. Present manager Ten Hag looks more than capable of restoring the glory days for United with the team now having the opportunity for an unprecedented quadruple this season. One of the titles to achieve that will be the FA Cup in which they have made it to the last 16 and will play West Ham at Old Trafford in midweek. In front of a cheerful home crowd, United will be adamant to carry on their 10-game unbeaten run across all competitions with the 3-1 triumph here against Reading in the previous round making it eight wins in that period. The Red Devils will be confident of progressing from the fifth round having done it 41 times more than any other side in the competition in the current format. Manchester United have also won 13 of the last 15 FA Cup games at home also scoring every time in their last 25 such fixtures. Everything points to a quarterfinal berth for Erik ten Hag’s valiant men on Wednesday night.
United’s ravaging form and mentality will be a worry for West Ham and their manager David Moyes who has lost nine of his 11 visits at Old Trafford as an opposition in the dugout. The Hammers have struggled throughout the Premier League season finding it difficult to balance with their flurry in Europe. They sit 16th on the table just two points above the drop zone and although they have reached the last 16 stages of the Europa Conference League, their priority will be to ensure safety in the Premier League. Last weekend, West Ham managed to outdo relegation rivals Nottingham Forest with a 4-0 emphatic win at home in anticipation of reviving their season from here. All of the goals came in the last 20 minutes of the game with Danny Ings scoring a quick-fire brace with Jarrod Bowen and later Michail Antonio getting on the scoresheet. The 32-year-old will be relieved to finally score his first Premier League goal since October last year. However, he has scored in the fourth round of the FA Cup against Derby County in the 2-0 win in January after Bowen got the Hammers ahead in the 10th minute. Moyes’s side will now look to carry the momentum in the FA Cup but, as said, facing Manchester United is a totally different prospect now. West Ham have only won once in their last 20 away games against the Red Devils anyway proving Old Trafford a horror ground for them. The visitors failed to reach the quarterfinals of the FA Cup since 2015-16 losing their last two fifth-round ties, one of them in the same fixture two years back.
Recent Form (all competitions)
MUN: WWWDW
WHU: WLDDW
MUN vs WHU Team News
Manchester United have no fresh injury concerns from their League Cup win on Sunday although Erik ten Hag understandably will make changes due to fixture congestion. Anthony Martial is back in training as he continues his recovery from a hip injury. The Frenchman missed the final but could potentially get involved next weekend in the derby against Liverpool. Christian Eriksen, Donny van de Beek and Phil Jones are long-term injury absentees. Marcus Rashford has scored the match-winner in the last two home meetings against West Ham but could be rested with Alejandro Garnacho getting the nod.
Manager David Moyes said in his pre-match conference that Vladimir Coufal and Lukasz Fabianski are doubtful for the midweek FA Cup clash. The right-back has a problem with his heel and had to come off at half-time in the weekend win over Nottingham Forest while the Polish shot-stopper took a blow to his eye. Lucas Paqueta went down with his shoulder in the match after suffering a similar kind of injury against Chelsea early this month but is seemingly fit to start. Maxwel Cornet and Kurt Zouma are out of contention through injuries.
MUN vs WHU Predicted Lineups
MUN: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Tyrell Malacia; Casemiro, Marcel Sabitzer; Antony, Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford; Wout Weghorst
WHU: Alphonso Areola; Ben Johnson, Thilo Kehrer, Naif Aguerd, Aaron Cresswell; Declan Rice, Tomas Soucek, Lucas Paqueta; Said Benrahma, Michail Antonio, Jarrod Bowen
MUN vs WHU Head to Head in FA Cup
Manchester United - 6
Draw - 3
West Ham – 4
West Ham last won a FA Cup tie against Manchester United back in 2001. That was also the last time they won at Old Trafford in the competition. Since then, the home side has picked up four wins over the Hammers with the latest one coming in the 1-0 triumph at this venue in 2020/21 season with Scott McTominay scoring an extra-time winner in the one-off tie played due to the pandemic in the fifth round then as well.
MUN vs WHU Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: De Gea (7.5)
DEF: Wan-Bissaka (8), Aguerd (8), Johnson (8)
MID: Antony (8.5), Casemiro (8), Fred (7.5), B Fernandes (9)
FW: Bowen (8.5), Antonio (7.5), Rashford (9)
Vice-captain: Bruno Fernandes
Captain: Marcus Rashford
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