Manchester United and West Ham United are playing live on the English Premier League schedule on Saturday and the match is coming live from Upton Park and is streaming on the NBC Live Extra website at 1:30 pm ET and the Red Devils are looking to keep their strong play going after advancing in the Champions League.
The team will be without Robin Van Persie for over a month and that is a huge blow for the team after he scored a hat trick to get Manchester United past Olympiakos to play against Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals and now he will miss both legs of that matchup. Wayne Rooney led a meeting after their loss against Liverpool in the last Premier League match at home against Old Trafford and now for any chance of getting back into the mix on the EPL table, Man United must start winning now. Rooney will have to step up with Van Persie out and his leg was what got them through to the next round.
The team has a big match coming up with Manchester City at Old Trafford and they are in the top four coming into the weekend, while Bayern Munich is ahead along with Newcastle, Hull City, Norwich City, Sunderland and Southampton and the back stretch is more favorable over top clubs like Chelsea and Arsenal. The team is through to the Champions League quarterfinals after winning against Olympiakos, but they will have a tough time with Bayern Munich, as they are the defending champs and this could be the last taste of the UCL for Man United until the year after next, as they are out of qualifying right now on the English Premier League table.
Manchester United has six of their final 11 matches at home at Old Trafford and that could be a huge boost for the team as they lose Van Persie, who is down now with a sprained knee after being injured against Olympiakos. Van Persie already has missed time this season with injuries after dealing with a thigh issue and while he will miss six weeks, the club has to handle things without him. Upton Park has been friendly for West Ham United over the past couple months and they have gotten out of the bottom of the Premier League table and that could be a trap for Manchester United.
The Red Devils are 12 points out of the top four of the table and they haven't lost there since January and while Manchester comes in after a loss in the Premier League to Liverpool and this will be a chance to rebound. Manchester United lost in the first leg of the Champions League matchup with Olympiakos and they had to power their way back to win and now they face a West Ham team that has Kevin Nolan leading the team in scoring in assists. West Ham comes in after a loss against Stoke City and now they play against Man United before a huge matchup looming with Liverpool and that will be at Upton Park. West Ham has the chance to be a spoiler at the end of the season,as they play against the Reds and Arsenal before finishing the season against Manchester City.
Check here for the Manchester United and West Ham United live coverage from NBC.
