Manchester United defeated West Ham United 1-0 over the weekend to move within one point of the Premier League’s top four. It was a performance that demonstrated both why they are a better team than they were in 2021/22 and why they are still a work in progress.
Marcus Rashford’s towering header (the England international imitated Cristiano Ronaldo, arguably the best player in the air of all time) was enough to secure all three points for United. However, the home team also relied on some back-to-the-wall defending, particularly from Lisandro Martinez and Diogo Dalot, as well as David de Gea’s shot-stopping prowess. West Ham may consider themselves unlucky to have left Old Trafford empty-handed. They had a lot of the ball in the second half and had some great chances to tie it up. United held on, and the players’ celebrations at the final whistle demonstrated the team spirit and togetherness that Erik ten Hag has been able to foster since taking over in the summer.
The Dutchman will want to see his team improve in game control, beginning with Thursday’s trip to Spain. This match will serve as a useful yardstick to measure United’s progress over the last few months: they lost 1-0 to Real Sociedad at Old Trafford on matchday one of the Europa League. Real Sociedad now have the upper hand in the race for the top spot in this group, thanks to their victory at Old Trafford. They are the only team in the competition to have won all five games in the Europa League group stage and have been nearly flawless in the competition.
Furthermore, La Real has only conceded one goal and is averaging two per match. Their last two La Liga games, however, have both ended in defeat. Sociedad fell 1-0 to Real Valladolid on October 22, before falling 2-0 to Real Betis the following weekend. Those two games marked the first time in any competition that Imanol Alguacil’s men failed to score. Real Sociedad remain in a respectable position in La Liga. They are fifth after 12 rounds of fixtures and are only a point behind the top four, which means they have a good chance of occupying a Champions League qualification spot by the time the league pauses for the World Cup 2022 in a couple of weeks.
Sociedad, like Manchester United, hopes to compete in Europe’s premier competition next season. For the time being, they will have to be content with finishing first in Group E of the Europa League.
So, while Real Sociedad and Manchester United both finished the group stage with a game to spare, they both have something to play for on matchday six. A draw would be enough for the La Liga team to finish first, and they will do everything they can to keep things tight throughout.
United will not go gung-ho either, so this could be a cagey match between two teams looking to avoid making mistakes that could cost them the Group E title. This could be an interesting encounter, but we shouldn’t expect it to be goal-oriented. At the Estadio de Anoeta, aim for less than 2.5 goals.
Match Prediction
Real Sociedad 1-2 Manchester United
