On the face of it, a contest between the attacking talent of Manchester United and West Ham should not be a contest at all. One club is one of the world’s biggest, with a group of forwards and wingers bought for upwards of £350m while the Hammers – despite their current joyous streak of European form – have been far more modest in their acquisitions. Substantial sums, but not excessive. Yet four months into this season, the contrast in fortunes have been stark and tell a sorry story at Old Trafford.
Manchester United’s peculiarly assembled bunch are misfiring. Erik ten Hag’s side have gone three games – 291 minutes – without a goal. Their leading home-grown star, Marcus Rashford, has been dropped. Bruno Fernandes has wavered from the sublime to the inexplicable, while £82m winger Antony has frustrated the fanbase with his tricks and sheer lack of substance.
Alejandro Garnacho has showed flashes of brilliance, Anthony Martial is simply omnipresent but uninfluential, and Jadon Sancho has been cast aside altogether. And as for their No 9 summer signing Rasmus Hojlund? He is on the verge of 1,000 minutes without a league goal; a damning statistic to start his United career, especially considering the striker leading the line in this fixture last season, Wout Weghorst, also failed to break his Premier League duck. Their top scorer as we enter the festive season is Scott McTominay, predominantly a holding midfielder until recently, with six goals.
Enter West Ham. Enter Mohammed Kudus, who has hit the ground running since his summer move from Ajax, and comes into this game off the back of a London Stadium brace against Wolves last week. Enter Lucas Paqueta and James Ward-Prowse, two forward-thinking playmakers working finely in-tune, and both rested in the midweek Carabao Cup disappointment at Liverpool. But most of all, enter Jarrod Bowen.
Jarrod Bowen has been West Ham’s standout player and one of the Premier League’s best so far this season— (Getty Images)
The England international, who has honed his craft from the days of non-league with Hereford United to now being one of the Premier League’s standout players, has adapted remarkably well since moving into a central No 9 role, deputising for the injured Michael Antonio. He’s scored 10 Premier League goals in 16 games, already beating his tally of six from last season when he featured in every game. And he’s earned the plaudits of not just manager David Moyes, but Jurgen Klopp too.
The Liverpool boss, speaking before Bowen’s terrific solo effort in the 5-1 loss at Anfield on Wednesday, was gushing in his praise for the 27-year-old: “Bowen steps up in that position [No 9 role]. [He is] probably my favourite player besides all my players, I have to say. It’s just great, what he’s doing and how he develops.”
Words of high acclaim. In fact – look away West Ham fans – it is such a statement that can only trigger the rumour mill. Should Mohamed Salah leave next summer for the riches of Saudi Arabia, or even next month, Bowen could well be top of Klopp’s wishlist to replace him. There’d be obstacles to that, not least Bowen’s contentment in east London and his new contract signed in October, penning him down until 2030. But the lures of a top-six club are rarely passed up when the money is right.
Antony and Bruno Fernandes, however, have struggled to perform consistently— (Getty Images)
Yet for now, West Ham fans need not worry. Bowen’s application and quality thrives on regular minutes, having missed just two matches in three-and-a-half seasons of Premier League football. He is a player at the peak of his powers, thriving as the star man at a club where he already has cult hero status after his match-winner in last year’s Europa Conference League final. This season, in a competitive field, he is joint-third in the Premier League top scorer charts, behind only Erling Haaland and Salah.
The challenge for United is to stop him. The challenge for their attacking players – particularly for someone built in a similar style and position such as Antony – is to outshine West Ham’s productive quartet of players. Fernandes will return as captain, having missed out in the dire goalless draw at Anfield due to suspension. Ten Hag needs a positive result – having won just one of his last six games in all competitions – at a stadium where he lost by a solitary goal in May thanks to a mistake by David de Gea, which was likely the final straw for the goalkeeper’s stay at United.
“We have played very strong teams in Liverpool and Bayern Munich, and before we had a poor game [vs Bournemouth],” said Ten Hag on Friday. “Always issues. We have to improve, we played very good against Bayern Munich and Liverpool but we should have created more chances and been more clinical in such moments.”
But for Bowen and West Ham, three points will give home fans the ultimate present of Christmas cheer. Win on Saturday and they will leapfrog their opponents and, at least temporarily, ascend into the top six.
