After a two week hiatus for the International break, the hopes were that we would come into this game with a pretty healthy squad but this doesn’t appear to be the case if Fergie’s comments at yesterday’s press conference is anything to go by and several players are still some way from fitness, it would appear.

However, Vidic looks set to return in central defence and Anderson and Park could make a return in the middle, if necessary. There appear to be no concerns with the strike force and, with the return to fitness of Michael Owen, Fergie actually appears to have an embarrassment of riches in that department.

As for the game itself, West Ham are still very much in the relegation battle which will undoubtedly mean that they will be scrapping for their lives in this one. Whilst it might have been a weakened side that Fergie put out, there is no way anyone on the field in this one will have forgotten the fact that it was West Ham who inflicted our first defeat of the season on us (and a 4-0 drubbing at that) in the Carling Cup earlier in the season. In short, this is unlikely to be an easy game for us, even though the League table might suggest otherwise.

The main concern throughout this season has been our away form and, having lost three of our last four away games, it has arguably been as bad as ever of late. The hope is that the players will realise that this really is the nitty gritty of the season now, that this is definitely a winnable game and that record 19th Premier League title is very much in our own hands right now.

Our record at West Ham has been a bit of a mixed bag down the years, we have won the last couple but it’s been almost 18 months since we last played there in the league.

West Ham have enjoyed a couple of good home wins in their last two games (3-0 against Stoke and 3-1 against Liverpool) but they do seem to be very hit and miss and are as likely to lose by similar margins at any given moment.

All things considered, I do believe that we will do whatever is necessary to win this game whilst West Ham might be content with a point. Given the price on offer, I think a straight bet on a United win isn’t the worst bet to have on this one.

The bet is going to be 2 points on United to win @ 1.84 with Canbet.

It looks almost certain that we will be fielding a more “second-string” type side for this one this evening but when that second string contains the likes of Hernandez, it remains a very dangerous side and I fully expect us to give a struggling West Ham side a hard game, even at their place.

West Ham themselves will be without one or two key players as the talismanic Scott Parker in particular looks certain to miss out.

Games between us and West Ham usually end up with us as winners but they have given us a few problems down the years when we have travelled to Upton Park and a 4-0 win for us when we met them there in the league around this time last year aside, the goal count tends to be fairly low.

Our record in this tournament in recent years suggests that everyone concerned will be giving it 100% to win this game and so I have no concerns on that score.

I feel that if our defence can keep West Ham out (and they have not exactly been prolific scorers so far this season with just 14 goals in 15 league games then we should have enough to score one or two at the other end and I am going to base the bet on something like this being the case.

The bookies think that this will be a fairly high scoring game but I’m not too sure…

The bet will be 2 points UNDER 2.5 goals @ 2.2 with Victor Chandler.

West Ham come to Old Trafford this evening having had a start to the season which would suggest that Hammers fans could be in for as rocky a season as they had to endure last season.

They have lost both of their opening games, shipping six goals and scoring only one in return and it is extremely difficult to put together a case to suggest that their fortunes are going to improve much today. Their away record has been extremely poor for quite some time now (the last time they won away in the League was on the opening day of last season when they beat Wolves 2-0.

The really good news for United is that the injured players are now starting to come back and with Anderson playing an hour earlier in the week for the reserves, there might even be the possibility of a cameo appearance for him in this game.

Wayne Rooney should be back for this one and will no doubt play alongside Berbatov – after a pretty barren few months for Rooney, I have a feeling he is going to burst back into life soon and today could well be the day.

I’m not going to over-analyse this one. I can only see a United win – the question is: by how many? Unfortunately, the bookies see it exactly the same way and are offering very skinny odds even on the -1.5 AH (1.45!).

I think I am going to go for it with this one though as I do think United could win this one very comfortably today and a three goal winning margin would not be a massive surprise but a two goal winning margin will refund stakes.

The bet is going to be 3 points United -2 AH @ 1.74 with Canbet.