Preview:Manchester United vs West Ham United - prediction, team news, lineups

Manchester United and West Ham United meet at the MetLife Stadium on Saturday (local time) for their opening fixture of the Premier League Summer Series - a pre-season tournament held in the United States.

The Red Devils and the Hammers will also face Everton and Bournemouth in a round-robin format, and the team with the most points after three matches will be crowned the winner.

Match preview

Man United are bidding to bounce back from a disastrous 2024-25 campaign which concluded with a 15th-placed finish in the Premier League after collecting just 42 points - their worst top-flight season since 1973-74 - and defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final, which confirmed that the Red Devils will not compete in European competition next season for only the second time in 35 years.

Head coach Ruben Amorim is under pressure to turn the club’s fortunes around in his first full season at Old Trafford and his squad has been strengthened with three new signings so far this summer, including the £71m addition of forward Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford.

The other two new arrivals - Matheus Cunha and Diego Leon - both impressed on their maiden appearances for Man United, who played out a goalless stalemate with Leeds United in their pre-season opener at the Strawberry Arena in Stockholm last weekend.

After enduring their worst-scoring Premier League campaign last term (44 goals), there were few signs of improvement in front of goal for the Red Devils against Leeds, and their most recent performance was yet another demonstration of the club's need to recruit a new centre-forward in the transfer market, with the likes of Nicolas Jackson, Benjamin Sesko and Ollie Watkins allegedly among their current targets.

A squad of 32 Man United players arrived in the United States on Tuesday and Amorim will hope to see positive signs of improvement across encounters with West Ham, Bournemouth and Everton, before heading back to Old Trafford for their final friendly of the summer against Fiorentina on August 9.

This time last year, West Ham fans had high hopes heading into their first season under Julen Lopetegui after a hefty outlay on transfers, but the less said about the Spaniard’s brief reign the better, with Graham Potter tasked with picking up the pieces during the second half of an underwhelming 2024-25 campaign.

Potter is yet to set the world alight in the Hammers hotseat and had to settle for a 14th-placed finish in the Premier League last season, winning just six of his 19 games in charge, but he now has the chance to firmly implement his philosophy during an important pre-season for West Ham, as they endeavour to put themselves back into European qualification contention in 2025-26.

West Ham have bolstered their full-back options this summer with the signings of El Hadji Malick Diouf and Kyle Walker-Peters, but attacking reinforcements are required at the London Stadium following the £55m sale of Mohammed Kudus to London rivals Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month.

The Hammers began their pre-season preparations in Germany with a 3-1 victory over Swiss outfit Grasshopper Club Zurich last Saturday, courtesy of goals from Andy Irving, Callum Marshall and Lucas Paqueta.

Before taking on Everton, Bournemouth and Lille in the coming weeks, West Ham will turn their attention to their next encounter against Man United, who they beat both home and away in the Premier League last season, including a 2-0 victory at Old Trafford under Potter in May.

Manchester United pre-season form:

West Ham United pre-season form:

Team News

Amorim will weigh up whether to hand Mbeumo an immediate start in attack next to follow new recruit Cunha, while either Rasmus Hojlund or Chido Obi could be tasked with leading the line after both players played 45 minutes each as a central striker against Leeds.

Joshua Zirkzee and Andre Onana both missed the draw with Leeds due to injury, but they have both been included in Amorim’s squad along with Lisandro Martinez, though the latter is not expected to feature as he continues his rehabilitation from a serious knee injury.

Marcus Rashford will not be involved as he has completed a loan move to Barcelona, while Harry Maguire - who played against Leeds - was initially left out of the 32-man squad, but he will travel to the States on Wednesday after dealing with a personal matter, meaning that he could feature in some capacity this weekend.

As for West Ham, they are set to be without midfielder George Earthy who suffered an ankle ligament injury in training before their week-long camp in Germany.

Crysencio Summerville did travel with the squad to Germany as he continues to steps up his rehabilitation from a hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined since January, but the attacker is unlikely to fly over to the States and may instead resume individual training at Rush Green.

Edson Alvarez is expected to join up late with the West Ham squad, as he has been given additional time off after leading Mexico to CONCACAF Gold Cup glory earlier this month, so the likes of Tomas Soucek, James Ward-Prowse, Guido Rodriguez and Freddie Potts will all compete for minutes in midfield.

Manchester United possible starting lineup:

Bayindir; Yoro, De Ligt, Shaw; Dalot, Ugarte, Fernandes, Dorgu; Mbeumo, Cunha; Obi

West Ham United possible starting lineup:

Areola; Todibo, Kilman, Aguerd; Wan-Bissaka, Ward-Prowse, Soucek, Diouf; Paqueta, Bowen; Fullkrug

We say: Manchester United 2-1 West Ham United

It is difficult to predict the outcome of any pre-season contest, especially when both managers are expected to rotate their teams throughout the match as they aim to give valuable minutes to as many players as possible in order to build up their match fitness.

West Ham will be in high spirits after winning their opening friendly fixture, but we are backing Man United, boosted by the arrivals of Mbeumo and Cunha, to claim a narrow win over the Hammers.