Man United take on Leicester City and Liverpool in a span of just 48 hours this week and the outcome of these matches could have a major impact on West Ham United’s future.
Man United have secured a top-four spot on the Premier League table thanks to West Ham’s loss to Everton on Sunday and if United cannot beat Liverpool and Leicester City this week then David Moyes’ side are more or less sure to miss out on European football next season.
This cluttered schedule has not gone down too well with the West Ham United manager since there’s every chance that Ole can field a second-fiddle side against Leicester as well as Liverpool because he does not have much to lose now.
Talking about the scheduling mess, Moyes said: “It was really interesting when we were coming back (from the coronavirus lockdown), a lot was made about integrity.
“Ole can do what he likes with his team, but I don’t know if there was a better way to sort the fixtures out. Our chances of the Champions League are looking slim, but we’ll keep fighting.
“I’d set my target and I knew where we had to go, and defeat might be costly for us but you never know in football, we might be saying something different in time.”
With a top-four position secured, Man United have no real incentive to go all out in these two matches but still, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has made it clear that his side will be on the pitch to pick up maximum points.
“We want to listen, the players want to play the game,” Solskjaer told the press earlier this week(Sky Sports).
“We’re playing Liverpool – of course we want to beat Liverpool and we want to beat Leicester.
“So we’re going to do everything we can for our fans to celebrate what we’re doing on the pitch.”
The West Ham United manager will breathe a little easy thanks to this statement but the real test will come when Solskjaer names his starting line-ups.
Manchester United still have a Europa League game to look forward so there’s no doubt they will tread with a lot of caution and the fate of West Ham United lies in the outcome of these two matches.
The Hammers are currently fifth on the league table, sitting between Leicester City and Liverpool so if Man United can somehow secure six points from their next two matches then West Ham United will suddenly be in the driver’s seat to claim the final Champions League spot.
