Manchester United can unleash one angry player with a point to prove

Manchester United travel to London today looking to try and back up last weekend's Premier League success against Brentford by securing a fourth league win of the season.

The momentum of that come-from-behind success against the Bees stalled a little in midweek as Erik ten Hag's team again threw away a lead in European competition, drawing 1-1 with Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahce.

That leaves United 12th in the Premier League table and 21st in the Europa League table heading into the weekend, and they need some positive results. Jonny Evans is set to return to the matchday squad, and Bruno Fernandes is available again after suspension, but they could be without Antony after he picked up an injury in Istanbul.

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Here are five things to look out for at the London Stadium:

Amad's anger

Players suddenly finding their minutes compromised has been a theme of the season for United. Manuel Ugarte started against Tottenham, then played two minutes across three games before returning to start against Porto.

Amad has found himself in a similar position of late. He enjoyed a good start to the season and started the 3-3 draw at Porto but then found himself back below Antony in the pecking order. But for the Brazilian's injury, Amad would have gone three games without getting off the bench.

He was clearly fuming about the situation in Istanbul and had little chance to make an impact in the final five minutes. Ten Hag has been keen to rotate this season, and with Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho starting twice this week, there is an argument that handing Amad a start would be a good way to channel his anger.

Left-back question

United have had a better balance this week with left-footer Lisandro Martinez playing at left-back. With Evans also returning to their squad, there is reason to hand the Argentine a third successive start in that position.

With Noussair Mazraoui ready to start and likely to revert to full-back, Ten Hag might opt for the Moroccan on the right and Diogo Dalot back on the left, but Dalot has been struggling for form recently.

Martinez offers United something different on the left and can still get involved in build-up play from deep. Mazraoui could play on the right, push up into midfield in possession and allow Martinez to effectively become a third centre-back, shuffling in from the left.

Ugarte's momentum

The decision to put Casemiro on the bench against Fenerbahce was a pretty clear indication that he is in line to start against West Ham, but Ten Hag might have to rethink his midfield set-up.

We can be sure that Bruno Fernandes will return, and Christian Eriksen's excellent form suggests he will keep his place. The question now is who plays in the holding midfield role.

Ugarte had endured a slow start to life at Old Trafford, but he was excellent against the Turkish side and needs the chance to try and build on that momentum.

Good week or bad week?

If United can come away from the capital with three points, then they will be able to reflect on a good week. Two Premier League wins and a Europa League draw in Istanbul would be a very decent return.

But that result against Fenerbahce does mean the week will now be defined by events against West Ham. Win and all is good. Lose and the pressure is back on Ten Hag.

This game is even more important because of what comes after it - a run of seven games of which six are at Old Trafford and the other is away at Ipswich. This is a real chance to get some momentum going.

Hammers feeling the heat

Julen Lopetegui was in charge of Sevilla when they beat United 2-1 in the Europa League semi-finals in 2020, but the Spaniard lost both games against the Reds when in charge of Wolves and finds himself under pressure already at West Ham.

He has what looks like an impressive squad to work with, but they have won just two of their Premier League games so far, and the 4-1 defeat to Tottenham last weekend went down badly with supporters. Lopetegui arguably needs a win even more than Ten Hag this weekend.