In the previous encounter between these teams, which ended in a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford, Jarrod Bowen was fouled five times. Winning at least one foul is a consistent feature of his game; this season, he has drawn 37 fouls across 25 Premier League starts, averaging 1.49 per 90 minutes.

While Manchester United have shown clear improvement, particularly since Michael Carrick's appointment, they remain susceptible to the kind of direct attacks West Ham are expected to employ. Bowen's ability to initiate rapid transitions makes him extremely difficult to contain legally, which is precisely how he drew those five fouls in the first meeting.

Bowen’s main opponent here is likely to be Luke Shaw, who has committed a foul in each of his last 16 Premier League matches. Shaw committed three fouls and was shown a yellow card in the most recent head-to-head meeting. 

Bowen has been fouled in four of his last five league appearances, with multiple fouls drawn in two of those games. His success at Old Trafford indicates that Manchester United will likely need to foul him on more than one occasion again if they are to prevent West Ham from scoring on the break.

The chief catalyst of West Ham’s recent revival has been Crysencio Summerville, with the former Leeds player having scored in five successive matches. He was waiting for a breakout moment, having not scored in 2025 for the Hammers.

His shot volume, however, has been impressive throughout this season, with 33 coming in the Premier League at a rate of 1.99 per 90. Being moved into a deeper midfield role in recent weeks actually seems to have helped him, with 16 shots across his last five matches, including at least two in each game.

He has at least two shots in 10 of his last 13 starts across all competitions, establishing himself as a player confident in shooting.

While the Super Sub feature can offer some insurance if he goes off, this is unlikely; he has played all but two minutes of the last seven games.

Senne Lammens has been quite an underrated player in United’s general improvement this season and has been an assured presence at the back, taking over from the theatrics of Andre Onana. 

Lammens’ impact has been minimised slightly due to the lack of clean sheets that United keep, but this isn’t really the fault of the United keeper, who has been solid when called into action. He’s been forced into making 42 saves across his 19 appearances in the Premier League this season, working out to an average of 2.21 saves per 90.

West Ham have been steadily improving in the final third as well this campaign, drawing 2+ saves from the opposition keeper in each of their last five matches across all competitions - including away games against Tottenham and Chelsea. 

West Ham have yet to keep a clean sheet at home this season while Manchester United are yet to enjoy a shutout on the road. All the evidence points to these two unwanted records being preserved through this fixture, with the respective teams in better form offensively than they are at the back.

The Irons, for example, have scored at least two goals in each of their last five games.

Man United, meanwhile, have bagged at least two in each of Michael Carrick’s four matches since taking over and are on a run of 14 successive encounters without being shut out – dating back to the 1-0 home loss against Everton in November.

United did keep a clean sheet at the weekend against Spurs, but their opponents hamstrung themselves by having Cristian Romero sent off before half an hour of the match was up. It was only their 4th shutout of the season.