West Ham vs Manchester United LIVE: Paqueta and Ward-Prowse return for hosts, debut for Kambwala and Rashford on bench

Live Blog

Updated: 12:48, 23 Dec 2023

West Ham host Manchester United this afternoon in hope of leapfrogging their opponents in the Premier League table.

The Hammers can move above Erik ten Hag’s side with three points, potentially jumping into the top six of the league before Christmas.

David Moyes faces his former club who come into this game off the back of a hard-fought 0-0 draw with Liverpool last Sunday.

United are slipping further away from the Champions League places as their torrid campaign continues and they are in desperate need of three points.

Live commentary: talkSPORT website stream HERE, via the app HERE
Match being broadcast on TNT Sports 1
West Ham: Areola, Coufal, Mavropanos, Zouma, Emerson, Alvarez, Ward-Prowse, Soucek, Kudus, Paqueta, Bowen
Subs: Fabianski, Johnson, Cresswell, Fornals, Ings, Ogbonna, Benrahma, Mubama, Kehrer
Man United: Onana, Wan-Bissaka, Kambwala, Evans, Shaw, Mainoo, McTominay, Antony, Garnacho, Fernandes, Hojlund
Subs: Bayindir, Bennett, Reguilon, Amrabat, Eriksen, Van de Beek, Mejbri, Pellistri, Rashford

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West Ham 0-0 Man United
16′ – Mavropanos pings a long pass to the edge of the box.
Ward-Prowse knocks it down for Bowen.
The winger has time and space to get a shot away, but doesn’t make clean contact, and the ball dribbles wide.
West Ham 0-0 Man United
15′ – Bowen is clipped in the centre circle, but the ball runs for Alvarez.
He plays a poor pass to Coufal, who throws himself down in an attempt to win a free-kick.
The referee waves it away.
Pearce: “That was pathetic, it really was.”
West Ham 0-0 Man United
13′ – Fernandes makes a clever run down the left.
Shaw finds him, but Coufal does enough to put off United’s captain and Areola picks up the low cross.

West Ham 0-0 Man United
12′ – Garnacho charges down the left and wins a corner.
Shaw takes, and the hosts clear comfortably.
West Ham 0-0 Man United
11′ – Paqueta clips a pass to Coufal.
He finds Kudus, who whips in a cross to the far post that Wan-Bissaka clears ahead of the Brazilian international.
Pearce: “They [Man United] dealt with it really well.”
What are they talking about?
West Ham 0-0 Man United
9′ – Fernandes finds Wan-Bissaka with a good switch of play.
Antony tries to cross from deep.
Zouma clears easily, but Mainoo regains possession.
West Ham 0-0 Man United
8′ – Kambwala does well to step out from the back and find Antony.
The winger tries a switch of play that Coufal heads away.
West Ham 0-0 Man United
6′ – Hojlund comes deep to get the ball.
He spins and has a lot of space to find Antony with a pass.
He can’t and Emerson slides in and knocks the ball out for a throw.

West Ham 0-0 Man United
4′ – Onana stops Emerson.
This is a great start from the hosts.
Emerson pops up on the right and whips in a shot from the edge of the box that Onana dives to his left to tip away.
Pearce: “It’s been a solid start from West Ham.”
West Ham 0-0 Man United
3′ – Ward-Prowse feeds the ball into Bowen
He tries to a play a one-two but Man United can’t clear…
West Ham 0-0 Man United
2′ – Good start from Kudus as he nicks possession and wins a free-kick.
The ball is played out to Emerson, but he can’t keep it in.
West Ham 0-0 Man United – Kick-off
The visitors get us underway kicking from right to left.
Here they come!
Referee Simon Hooper leads the two starting XIs out.
West Ham are in their traditional claret and blue kit and the visitors are in their all white away kit.
Players are in the tunnel…
Just moment to go now until both sets of players come out.

Atmosphere building
The West Ham fans are hoping for a much better display this afternoon and the atmosphere is steadily increasing.
Meanwhile, Man United will hope that 0-0 draw against Liverpool at Anfield can inspire them to three points today.
Warm-ups done
The players are now in the dressing room for final words before we get this one underway.
West Ham vs Man United
Stuart Pearce believes that Man United should have signed Harry Kane in the summer.
This follows Marcus Rashford, Antony, Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund and Bruno Fernandes’ struggles in front of goal.
To put this into context, Jarrod Bowen has one more league goal than the entire Red Devils XI this season.
And Pearce thinks Kane was the one.
He said: “We have to say the K word… I would’ve paid the extra money and got Harry Kane. He is exactly what they need.”
Raphael Varane ill
We have had word that Raphael Varane misses this game because he’s struggling with a virus.
It’s not the best news, but hopefully, he feels better soon.
West Ham vs Man United: Pre-match facts
- This is Manchester United’s last game before Christmas. They have lost 12 games in all competitions already this season, last losing more before Christmas in 1930-31 (16), a season in which they finished bottom of the top-flight.
- Lucas Paquetá assisted all three of West Ham’s goals in their 3-0 win over Wolves last time out, assisting as many times in that game as he did in 28 games last season. He also created six chances in open play in the match, the most by a Hammers player since Mauro Zárate vs Stoke in December 2015 (7).
- Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes has created 126 chances in the Premier League in 2023, the most of any player and a record (since 2004) by a Red Devils player in a calendar year in the competition. He has also created the most open play chances (96), with only two players ever creating more in a year on record: Mesut Özil in 2015 (104) and Eden Hazard in 2015 (98).
Bit of transfer news
West Ham outcast Said Benrahma is wanted by Lyon in January, talkSPORT understands.
The winger is said to be open to a move away from the London Stadium, with other players now ahead of him in the pecking order.
And Stuart Pearce isn’t shocked by this news.
He said: “That doesn’t surprise me. I read about links with Saudi Arabia as well. It might be time for him to move on and for West Ham to reinvest the money.”
Credit: Getty

Can Hojlund finally score?
Rasmus Hojlund smashed in five Champions League goals, but he’s yet to get off the mark in the top-flight.
The Dane barely touched the ball against Liverpool last weekend, with Antony and Alejandro Garnacho refusing to cross or pass to him.
However, Erik ten Hag is still fully supporting his striker.
Moyes defends West Ham record
West Ham had a great opportunity to make it to a domestic cup semi-final in midweek.
Yes, their full strength team might have still lost to Liverpool, but they would have put up more of a fight.
West Ham fans had every right to be annoyed, but since then, David Moyes has come out fighting.
West Ham vs Man United: Pre-match facts
- Since David Moyes’ return to West Ham in the 2019-20 campaign, the Hammers have won just three of their 31 Premier League games against sides to finish in the top four the previous season (D5 L23). They’ve never kept a clean sheet in these 31 games, with all three victories coming by a 3-2 scoreline.
- Only Sheffield United and Luton Town have faced more shots in the Premier League this season than both West Ham and Man Utd (271 each). Since 2003-04, it is Man Utd’s most shots faced per game in a campaign (15.9) while it is West Ham’s highest average since 2013-14 (17.8 per game that season).
- Manchester United have failed to score in three of their four Premier League matches in December, their most in a single month since January 2020 (also three). The Red Devils have drawn a blank in 11 games in 2023, only failing to score in more games in one calendar year in the Premier League (12 in 2015).
Warm-ups underway
Big news, the sun is out in east London and the players are out warming up.