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How Manchester United could line up against West Ham United

Sports Mole looks at how Manchester United could line up for Wednesday's crucial Premier League showdown with West Ham United at Old Trafford.

Manchester United will be looking to bounce back from their FA Cup exit and take the initiative in the top-four race when they welcome West Ham United to Old Trafford on Wednesday evening.

The Red Devils were well beaten by Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday, but also saw Leicester City lose earlier that afternoon to leave Champions League qualification firmly in their hands with two games of the season remaining.

Only a draw is needed for Man United to go into their likely winner-takes-all final-day showdown at Leicester sitting in the top four, which they have not done since September.

Here, Sports Mole looks at how Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could line his side up for the contest.



Possible MNU XI vs. WHU

Out: Eric Bailly (head), Phil Jones (knock), Axel Tuanzebe (unspecified)
Doubtful: Luke Shaw (ankle)

> Click here for Manchester United's latest injury and suspension news ahead of this match

Eric Bailly learned the painful way that Harry Maguire's head is harder than most things when the two accidentally clashed skulls at Wembley, leaving the Ivorian in a dizzied state.

Bailly was eventually stretchered away in a neck brace before being taken to hospital and, while he has now been released, concussion protocols mean that he will not feature in this game and is highly unlikely to do so on the final day either.

The centre-back may have been in line to drop out of the team anyway with Solskjaer expected to revert back to the 4-2-3-1 formation which has served United so well recently.

Mason Greenwood, Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba are likely to return to leave Man United with their full complement of an attacking quintet in prolific form - between those three, Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes they have either scored or assisted 21 of the team's 22 goals since the restart, including each of the last 16.

Fernandes alone has been directly involved in more goals than any other Premier League player since making his debut in February, while Rashford and Martial have assisted each other more often this term than any duo in a single season in United's Premier League history.

Luke Shaw is still a major doubt with an ankle injury, but Brandon Williams returned at the weekend and is ready to start again should his fellow left-back fall short.

There will also be plenty of focus on David de Gea after the latest in a growing list of mistakes, although Solskjaer has so far been unflinching in his support of the Spaniard.

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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool14112129111835
2Chelsea1594235181731
3Arsenal1585229151429
4Manchester CityMan City158342721627
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest157441918125
6Aston Villa157442323025
7Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton156632522324
8Bournemouth157352320324
9Brentford157263128323
10Fulham156542220223
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1562731191220
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle155551921-220
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd155461918119
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham155372028-818
15Everton143561421-714
16Leicester CityLeicester153572130-914
17Crystal Palace152761420-613
18Ipswich TownIpswich151681427-139
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1523102338-159
20Southampton1512121131-205


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