Saturday, 5th December 2009 – KO: 15:00

This is a tough one. A quick glance at the Premier League table will show you that we are currently second whilst West Ham are currently in 17th place and hovering just above the relegation zone.

This would normally make this an away banker for United but games against West Ham, especially at Upton Park, are rarely easy for us. In fact, we have only won two of the last five and so have West Ham with one draw coming way back in 2002.

I think something also has to be said about West Ham’s home form. They have played seven but won just two but of the ones they drew and lost, we have results such as 1-2 against Tottenham, 2-3 against Liverpool, 2-2 against Fulham, 2-2 against Arsenal, 1-2 against Everton. All tough teams to beat but, judging by those scorelines, West Ham gave them a hard time. Their two victories have come against Burnley and Aston Villa.

I think what this all says is that West Ham’s position in the League is a bit false at the moment and nothing can be taken for granted here today, this is likely to be a big test for Manchester United.

It is, however, a test we must pass. With Chelsea playing Manchester City, there is a possibility that Chelsea could drop a couple of points and we simply have to take advantage should this be the case.

The good news is that we are generally on a good run of form at the moment and have passed quite a few tough tests in recent weeks.

West Ham’s home games have generally seen plenty of goals so far this season but our games against them have been pretty hit and miss as far as goals go and I have a feeling this one is going to be a low-scoring affair because we haven’t been conceding many recently and if we are going to win this game then I can’t see anything beyond 2-1 but 1-0 seems more likely.

It’s not a bet I am totally confident about, however.

The bet is going to be 2 points UNDER 2.5 goals @ 2.05 with Canbet.

With the likes of Ferdinand, O’Shea and Evans out injured, the news just before kick-off that Vidic was also going to miss the game due to illness had alarm bells ringing for me and I would have changed my bet to the Over without a second thought.

That bet would have won but not in the way I expected.

Scholes had been reported as saying that he wasn’t happy with his form so far this season but his timely goal just before half-time really rolled back the years. The fact that it was hit with his left foot made it all the sweeter.

Gibson who had scored a couple of beauties in midweek against Spurs hit the best of the lot for our second.

Valencia continues to defy those who said he was not a goal-scorer for the third and Rooney wrapped it all up for our fourth.

I must admit, I could not see us winning this one 4-0 but there really is something going on with this team at the moment. Our tempo and movement was rapier-like as we went for the jugular time after time.

I suppose the team must have decided that the best way to protect the makeshift defence was to ensure that the play was all around the West Ham penalty area and that is pretty much what they did.

It didn’t all go our way, however, and this victory came at a pretty heavy cost. Our already depleted defence was hit further during the game with injuries to Neville and Brown and we ended the game with Fletcher at right-back, Carrick and Evra (!) in central defence and Giggs playing some kind of left-back/left winger due to the fact that we ended with just ten men.

The good news is that our next game against Wolfsburg is not greatly important, the bad news is that we still have to put some kind of defence together from a very shallow pool of players. The reserves must be rubbing their hands in anticipation!