After dropping points in straight games, against Wolves and Aston Villa respectively, Manchester United got their Premier League campaign and top four hopes back on track with a 3-1 win away at Brentford. While a big boost for the Red Devils, Ralf Rangnick will know though that there is a lot of work left to be done and the performance in the first half against The Bees was disappointing as well.
They have a tougher test coming up though as they will face a West Ham United side pushing for a top four spot as well.
David Moyes’ side started the season in brilliant fashion but have found themselves struggling a bit lately, and will fall behind Manchester United if they lose this one. Thus, this is a huge game for the Hammers, as well.
Unfortunately for Manchester United, they will be without Victor Lindelof against West Ham United after there was a break-in recently at the Swedish international’s home. As reported by the club’s official website, Rangnick said:
"“He said to me that he right now needs to stay at home. He doesn’t want to leave his wife and family on their own, which I can fully understand, being a father of two children myself. We agreed that he will not be training today and won’t be available tomorrow for the game.”"
Lindelof will not be available for Manchester United vs West Ham
This is certainly the right decision and we wish Lindelof and his family the best in this difficult situation.
For Manchester United on the pitch, this is a big blow though. One could argue that Lindelof has been their best defender this season till now, with the likes of Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka all struggling with both form and fitness.
As a result, the Swedish defender has played a lot more first-team football than one would have expected at the start of the campaign and to be very honest, he has done quite well, all things considered.
In his absence, one would expect Maguire to come back into the line up and it will be interesting to see how the Manchester United captain does if he ends up playing against West Ham United.