3-4-3: United will completely outsmart West Ham with this technically-gifted attacking line-up

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim should welcome back Matheus Cunha to his squad for Thursday evening’s Premier League clash with West Ham United at Old Trafford. After good performances from Mason Mount and Josh Zirkzee against Crystal Palace on Sunday, the question is which one, if either, will give way to make room for the Brazilian in the starting XI. Defence Senne Lammens will continue in goal. Nouss Mazraoui replaced Leny Yoro after an hour or so on Sunday, following the Frenchman’s shaky performance. Yoro has been struggling for form recently, and conceding an unnecessary penalty in the first half was a big mistake that put United on the back foot. Amorim needs to stamp out individual errors, so it seems probable, in the continued absence of Harry Maguire, that Mazraoui will keep his place alongside Matthijs de Ligt and Luke Shaw. Lisandro Martinez got some minutes on Sunday but is likely to continue from the bench. Diogo Dalot put in a good stint against Palace and could keep his place at left wing-back ahead of Patrick Dorgu. Amad will continue at right wing-back. Midfield and Attack Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro now seem to be Amorim’s automatic choices for central midfield, and we expect that to continue, with Kobbie Mainoo and Manu Ugarte missing out again. Cunha should come straight back in, but it’s a toss-up whether he will replace Mount on the left side of attack or Zirkzee through the middle. On balance, given the opposition, Zirkzee’s flair and trickery might be more valuable than Mount’s pressing, and so the Dutchman should get the nod. Ben Sesko is still out injured. With all that in mind, here is our predicted line-up for Thursday’s 8pm kick-off: Featured image Michael Reagan via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Red Billy Red Billy is the managing editor of The Peoples Person, author of three books and two magazines and totally obsessed with football’s transfer market. Billy first saw United live in 1971, watching George Best, Bobby Charlton and Denis Law, before becoming a League Match ticket book holder from 1975/76 and a writer since 1995. Billy still insists Matteo Darmian and Alex Telles could have made it at United given half a chance.