Manchester United vs. West Ham United

Scheduled for March 12, 2016, the sixth round of the Emirates FA Cup is quickly approaching.  A highly anticipated quarter final for all bookmakers is the match between Manchester United vs. West Ham United.

For those readers who are not familiar with the FA Cup, we want to point out that this tournament is the oldest football competition in the world and has been organized yearly since 1871. Although the FA Cup offers lower cash prizes compared to Premier League, for example, it offers the chance for small clubs to compete against top level league teams from England.

The FA Cup uses a knockout system and participation in the competition is open to any football club up to level 10 of the English football league system. As a fun fact, during the 2011-2012 season, a record of 763 clubs competed in the tournament.

Following the FA Cup 12 rounds format, Premier League clubs enter the competition in the 3rd round. For Manchester United, the upcoming clash against West Ham would be the 4th match played in this tournament.

So far, The Red Devils have knocked out Sheffield United (1-0), Derby County (1-3) and Shrewsbury Town (0-3) with Rooney and Mata as top goal scorers.

In the remaining days before the FA Cup quarter-final, Manchester United has several upcoming Premier League matches against Arsenal, Watford and West Bromwich Albion. However, under the guidance of Manager Louis van Gaal, Manchester United’s performance has shown some improvements, reminding of its former glory.

In the Premier League table, Manchester United occupies the 5th place with 12 remaining matches to play and 6 points behind the rivals, Manchester City. As a fun fact, Chelsea’s Manager Jose Mourinho declared that he might consider being the club’s new manager at the end of the Premier League’s season.

At the moment, Manchester United misses several players due mostly to injuries including centre-back Marcos Rojo (shoulder), left-back Luke Shaw (tibia fracture), right-back Matteo Darmian (shoulder injury), central midfield Bastian Schweinsteiger (Punch) and left wing Ashley Young (wound). For the above players, a date of their return has not been stated. Also, striker, top scorer and team’s captain Wayne Rooney are expected to return only in April due to knee problems. However, keeper David de Gea, right-back Antonio Valencia and left wing Adnan Januzaj are expected to return until the FA Cup quarter-final against West Ham United.

In 2015, Manchester United ranked as world’s 3rd most valuable football clubs with an estimated worth of $1.98 billion. The club is also one of the most widely supported team in the world and has won the FA Cup 11 times.

So far in the FA Cup, West Ham United has eliminated the Wolverhampton Wanderers FC (1-0), Liverpool (0-0; 2-1) and Blackburn Rovers (1-5) with Dimitri Payet as top scorer. In the Premier League tables, West Ham occupies the 7th place but only 1 point away from the 5th place Manchester United and 6th place Southampton.

In 2015, West Ham finished the Premier League season in the 12th position only one place higher than its previous year. At the end of the season, the club appointed Slaven Bilic as the new manager.

Bilic is a former West Ham player and the first manager to lead West Ham to victory against Liverpool since 1963. Under his supervision, West Ham United has won three successive Premier League away games, hammering Arsenal (0-2), Liverpool (0-3) and Manchester City (1-2). Now that’s impressive!

West Ham has won the FA Cup three times and before the quarterfinals, the team still has several Premier League matches to play against Sunderland, Tottenham and Everton. However, unlike Manchester United, West Ham has only two players injured. Centre forward Diafra Sakho is expected to return on 5th March while attacking midfield Manuel Lanzini suffers from thigh problems and a date for his return is unknown.

Judging by all previous head to head encounters, West Ham leads Manchester United with 61 games won, 28 draws and 42 lost. However in the FA Cup Manchester, United leads with two victories and a draw.

We anticipate the FA Cup quarter-final between Manchester United vs. West Ham United to be highly entertaining and exciting as teams are somehow balanced and hungry for trophies.