United look to strike down Hammers in FA Cup

Turning the corner

Manchester United is back in action Tuesday taking on West Ham at Old Trafford in the FA Cup’s fifth round.

The Reds will hope to turn the corner after losing ground in the Premier League title race following their 3-3 draw with Everton.

United squandered the lead right at the end and will need to quickly forget about it against a well organised West Ham side.

Lineup News

Man United will be without Paul Pogba who suffered a thigh muscle injury in Saturday’s game.

He’ll need a few weeks to recover.

That means Fred is likely to take his place in the starting midfield.

Eric Bailly is getting healthier, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says he won’t be available on Tuesday.

Phil Jones is the only other United player out of the lineup with a knee injury.

Expect Dean Henderson to start in goal in place of David de Gea.

The Hammers got some positive news regarding Tomas Soucek.

The Czech midfielder is available after his red card against Fulham Saturday was overturned.

West Ham’s loanee Jesse Lingard cannot play against his parent club on Tuesday.

Arthur Masuaku and Darren Randolph remain absent through injury.

David Moyes may rest Michail Antonio who’s had lingering muscle problems throughout the season.

Road to Round Five

Man United’s road to the fifth round has not been easy, but they’ve passed some difficult tests so far.

An early goal from Scott McTominay and a lack of finish from the Hornets helped them get past Watford in the third round 1-0.

In the fourth round, a brilliant 78th-minute free-kick from Bruno Fernandes settled the outcome against a pesky Liverpool side who came back on two occasions.

The Hammers haven’t had the same formidable opponents as United, but it’s been far from smooth sailing from David Moyes’ side.

It took West Ham 83 minutes to find a breakthrough against Stockport County FC a fifth tier English team.

In round four they needed just 4 minutes to score against Doncaster Rovers routing the third-tier side 4-0.

It’s the first real challenge for the Hammers in this competition, and it will be interesting to see how they handle it.

Hammering at Home

Man United will hold a significant psychological edge against their round five opponents at Old Trafford Tuesday.

West Ham hasn’t won on United’s home field in their last 15 trips there with the previous victory coming in 2007.

The Reds have not been great this season at home, but it’s been a while since they’ve lost an FA Cup tie at Old Trafford.

United’s won their last eight home games in the FA Cup.

That’s their longest run at home in the competition since winning nine straight between January 1908 and February 1912.

The Hammers haven’t won any of their last eight away games in the FA Cup against a Premier League team since they ousted Manchester City from the competition 2-1 in 2006.

Man United hasn’t had much trouble dealing with West Ham in this competition as they’ve won their last three FA Cup ties against them.

Squad Goals

A familiar sight at Old Trafford this season has been Man United collecting the ball out of their goal.

They’ve not been solid defensively at Old Trafford this season conceding 26 times in all competitions.

West Ham is looking to do something they’ve not done in this competition in over 25 years.

The last time the Hammers had three consecutive clean sheets in an FA Cup campaign was in 1993-94.

They’d go on to make it to the quarter-finals that season.

Scoring against Man United hasn’t been a problem for the Hammers lately.

They’ve found the back of the net against the Reds in five straight matches.

Martial’s Law

Anthony Martial will be chomping at the bits to play on Tuesday.

The Frenchman seems to give his best versus West Ham with six goals and three assists in his last ten games against them.

In 14 Premier League appearances so far, he’s struggled to find consistency with just four goals and three assists.

Keeping it Close

West Ham’s had an impressive run in the league currently sitting in sixth place just a point back of Liverpool for a Champions League spot.

One thing David Moyes’ team has learned to do well is to win tight matches.

In all competitions this season, West Ham’s won nine of their 11 one-goal games.

You have to think given how quick Man United are in transition the Hammers will look to hang around and try to counter.

It seems like it’d be an effective strategy against a United side that gives up a lot of quality chances.

United though are no stranger when it comes to close games either though.

The Reds have won 11 of their 15 one-goal games in all competitions this season.

Match Info

Tuesday’s game from Old Trafford starts at 7:30 pm. (JSL).