Man United v West Ham: Irons will make hosts work hard for victory
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With impressive summer recruitment, a promising pre-season and back-to-back victories over West Ham United on their side, it’s no surprise to see Manchester United firm favourites to beat the East London outfit in their Premier League opener.
However, the Irons will prove a sterner test than many expect.
Slaven Bilic’s men have managed a share of the spoils on three of their last four visits to Old Trafford, and have netted in five of their last six clashes with the Red Devils.
However, with Jose Mourinho’s men winning their last two meetings against this opposition, we think the home side will edge it – with Man United to Win and Both Teams to Score looking well-priced at 21/10.
The Hammers’ defence certainly won’t fancy the prospect of dealing with Romelu Lukaku again. The big Belgian has scored in nine of his 12 prior meetings with West Ham.
He’s 8/13 to register on his Old Trafford debut, while 11/4 says the former Everton man is the Last Goalscorer for the eighth time in 2017.
On the other side, it’s all about former Man United favourite Javier Hernandez. The likeable goal-poacher struck 13 times for German heavyweights Bayer Leverkusen last term, and shouldn’t be overlooked for a goal against his former employers at 16/5.
We also like the look of 2nd Half – Over 1.5 Goals at odds of 4/5. The Irons netted after the interval in 22 of their Prem games last term, while that figure was 20 for the Red Devils.
And with February’s meeting between these two producing a trio of second-half strikes, the 5/2 for Over 2.5 Goals after the break could prove an even savvier selection.
In the match betting, Man United are 3/10 favourites, with 21/5 about the draw and 10/1 on offer for a first West Ham win at this ground since May 2007.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
