New West Ham boss Alan Curbishley should have Anton Ferdinand
available again after the defender's recovery from an ankle
injury.
But Danny Gabbidon (hamstring) is still out and striker Dean Ashton
(ankle) will not be ready to return until at least next
month.
Patrice Evra remains Manchester United's only injury
absentee.
That means Sir Alex Ferguson could name an unchanged side from the
one that beat Manchester City 3-1.
WEST HAM UNITED take on the League leaders Manchester United in
Alan Curbishley's first match in charge. The new Hammers appointee
will hope he can make a better start at Upton Park than he made on
his departure from the Valley. His last game in charge of Charlton
was a 4-0 defeat to United at Old Trafford on 7 May. Curbishley
admits that he never fulfilled his potential as a player at West
Ham, and hopes to do better as a manager. A first ever managerial
victory over Manchester United would be a massive step in the right
direction.
Bobby ZAMORA is West Ham's leading scorer with five goals - all in
the Premiership. ZAMORA needs one more to total 100 League
goals.
West Ham boss Alan Curbishley ahead of his first game in
charge:
"I do not think I will change things too much this weekend and I
have not got any pre-conceived ideas.
"However, the players all owe Alan Pardew a performance, because
there has been a lot of criticism of them.
"It would be great if that was with a win as well on Sunday."
MANCHESTER UNITED are defending the only remaining unbeaten away
record in the highest League. They have won seven of their eight
matches on the road, including the last three, and need to score
once to bring their total of Premiership goals scored away from Old
Trafford all-time to 500.
Sir Alex Ferguson's side are aiming to extend the longest current
unbeaten sequence in the top tier to 13, with a 15th maximum of the
League campaign. Victory would give United 47 points - the most
they've ever had after the first 18 matches of a Premier League
campaign.
Louis SAHA is United's leading scorer with 12 League and Cup goals.
Paul SCHOLES has scored seven Premiership goals against West Ham.
SAHA and Wayne ROONEY are the club's joint top marksmen in the
Premiership with eight each.
Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson on Alan Curbishley being
appointed West manager this week:
"You always wonder what kind of effect it will have in the dressing
room.
"We're expecting it to be difficult. Players will have a desire to
do well and impress the new manager.
"It will be hard and we've got no illusions about that, but we have
a good record at Upton Park."
West Ham : Green, Carroll, Konchesky, McCartney, Ferdinand,
Collins, Spector, Bowyer, Reo-Coker, Benayoun, Etherington, Tevez,
Harewood, Mascherano, Zamora, Sheringham, Pantsil, Mears, Cole,
Noble, Dailly
Man Utd : Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Neville, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic,
Silvestre, Heinze, Ronaldo, Fletcher, O'Shea, Scholes, Carrick,
Giggs, Park, Richardson, Rooney, Smith, Solskjaer, Saha.
REFEREE
Phil Dowd (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire)
LAST SEASON'S CORRESPONDING GAME
West Ham United 1-2 Manchester United
27 November 2005 - Ref: Steve Bennett
West Ham scorer: Harewood 2
Man United scorers: Rooney 47, O'Shea 56
HEAD TO HEAD TOTALS
at West Ham only
League: West Ham 23 wins, Man United 11, Draws 17
Prem: West Ham 0 wins, Man United 5, Draws 7
Taken from All
Football Forum.
