Upton Park has been an arena of angst for Manchester United in recent seasons but they should depart from the East End in cheery mood this time. The hosts have conceded eight goals in their past three matches and even if Matthew Upson returns to their back line, it is unlikely they will be able to stop a United side that was so rampant against Portsmouth last week. Wayne Rooney, in particular, excelled in the 4-1 rout at Fratton Park. A seventh defeat of the season could see West Ham slide back into the relegation zone. Sachin Nakrani
Venue Upton Park
Tickets Sold out
Last season West Ham 0 Manchester United 1
Referee P Walton
This season's matches 9 Y23, R1, 2.67 cards per game
sportingbet odds West Ham 21-4 Man Utd 9-20 Draw 3-1
West Ham
Subs from Kurucz, Stech, Tomkins, Dyer, Noble, Upson, Faubert, Daprela, Nouble, Ngala, Hines, Jiménez
Doubtful Diamanti (hip/thigh), Jiménez (leg), Noble (virus), Upson (hamstring)
Injured Behrami (knee, 26 Dec), Cole (knee, Jan), Boa Morte (knee, Feb), Ashton (ankle, unknown), Davenport (legs, unknown)
Suspended None
Form guide WDLWDD
Disciplinary record Y30 R2
Leading scorer Cole 7
Manchester United
Subs from Foster, Kuszczak, Fletcher, Anderson, Owen, Welbeck, Neville, Gibson, Scholes, Macheda, Obertan, Park
Doubtful Van der Sar (knee)
Injured J Evans (calf, 12 Dec), Fabio (groin, 12 Dec), O'Shea (thigh, 12 Dec), Ferdinand (back ,19 Dec), Hargreaves (knee, Jan)
Suspended None
Form guide WWLWLW
Disciplinary record Y25 R2
Leading scorer Rooney 10
Match pointers
• West Ham have won only two of their 14 Premier League meetings with Manchester United at Upton Park
• Edwin van der Sar has the best save percentage in the top flight this season, stopping 83% of the shots he has faced
• West Ham have seen five opposition players sent off this season, no other side has had more than two dismissed
• Paul Scholes requires two more goals to reach 100 in the Premier League
• West Ham have not kept a clean sheet at home in the league since beating Sunderland 2-0 on 4 April
