West Ham vs. Manchester United: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info

Manchester United will look for their sixth straight Premier League win in Week 20, as they travel to London to take on West Ham United.

The Hammers saw their own winning streak come to an end at the hands of Leicester City last time out, the latest setback in what has been a disappointing season. West Ham remain a solid team, however, capable of springing an upset any day of the week.

United are rounding into form at just the right time, and another win would move them even closer to the top three and the title race.

Date: Monday, January 2

Time: 5:15 p.m. GMT/12:15 p.m. ET

Venue: London Stadium, Stratford

TV Info: Sky Sports 1 (UK), NBC Sports (U.S.)

Live Stream: Sky Go, NBC Sports Live

Team News

Eric Bailly has departed for international duty, per the Red Devils' official Twitter account, so United manager Jose Mourinho will have some defensive reshuffling to do.

Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images

Michael Carrick is expected to return after missing the Middlesbrough match through illness, and Wayne Rooney could come back into the squad as well, according to Mourinho. As reported by James Tuck of the club's official website, the United boss said:

"

Bailly is leaving – he goes to the national team. He has to be with them on 2 January. We asked them for him to be on 3 January but they refused, so he cannot play against West Ham.

I know that I lose Bailly for a month and I'm going to have Smalling, Rojo and Jones for, I think, eight matches. So I decided to play Eric [against Middlesbrough] and it was good to have him on the pitch because, one-on-one at the back, he's the best because he's very fast.

Rooney has a little chance and Michael has a bigger chance than Rooney. Let's see how he is tomorrow.

"

West Ham captain Mark Noble suffered a knock to the knee in the loss against Leicester, and it's unclear whether he'll be fit to face United. Diafra Sakho and James Collins remain sidelined with long-term injuries.

Possible West Ham XI: Darren Randolph, Aaron Cresswell, Angelo Ogbonna, Winston Reid, Havard Nordtveit, Cheikhou Kouyate, Pedro Obiang, Michail Antonio, Andre Ayew, Dimitri Payet and Andy Carroll.

Possible United XI: David De Gea, Antonio Valencia, Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind, Paul Pogba, Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Anthony Martial.

Preview

United had to dig deep to beat Middlesbrough in Week 19, and their resilience in the final 15 minutes of that match, completing a comeback win despite a ton of adversity, is a good sign for 2017.

Paul Pogba is playing some of the best football of his life, justifying his £89.3 million price tag after struggling in the first months following his arrival from Juventus. Sports writer Liam Canning has been impressed:

He hasn't been the club's most important midfielder of the past few months, however―that honour goes to Carrick. It shouldn't come as a surprise that the Red Devils struggled while he was absent against Boro.

The midfield battle in this clash could swing both ways and will largely depend on the availability of both Carrick and Noble. Regardless, United should have the quality to deal with West Ham, as long as they keep an eye on Dimitri Payet and take care of their set-piece defending.

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The latter has been an issue at times this year, and the Hammers can hurt a team in the aerial battle. Defensively, West Ham have struggled with movement, so Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial should be given free rein to run and switch.

Prediction: West Ham 1-2 Manchester United