West Ham v Manchester United: Ten Hag's men to falter again

• West Ham pushed Man City hard in midweek

• United's away form could cost them dearly

• Cards and corners the basis for Bet Builder

Hammers' season on the razor's edge

West Ham boss David Moyes is well aware that less patient owners would have fired him long before now (four of the other five sides in the bottom six have sacked at least one manager this term), but their patience could be rewarded in the next few weeks.

The East London giants are probably still one win from Premier League safety, but they are four points above the dropzone with four games left, and they have a Europa Conference League semi-final against Dutch club AZ to look forward to.

If Moyes can deliver Premier League survival and the club's first European trophy since the 1960s, this campaign will be hailed as a roaring success. However, relegation and a continental failure would be an unmitigated disaster.

Anyone who doubts whether Moyes still has the support of his players only needs to look at the first half of the midweek defeat at Manchester City. Yes, the Hammers ended up being the support act as Erling Haaland's record-breaking 35th Premier League strike of the season provided the main drama in a 3-0 win, but the way a side struck by injury and illness frustrated the champions in a goalless first half was impressive.

Without Declan Rice, Tomas Soucek, Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd (Zouma was injured, and the other three were struck down by a bug that ripped through the camp), West Ham stuck diligently to Moyes' gameplan until they were eventually worn down.

The Hammers are hopeful that Rice, Soucek and Aguerd will return, but Zouma is definitely out. Vladimir Coufal suffered a hamstring strain against City, and Italian striker Gianluca Scamacca could miss the rest of the season with a knee problem.

West Ham have lost their last three top-flight games against Liverpool, Crystal Palace and City, but they have only lost two of their last eight Premier League home matches. They have had some notable results on home soil - they held Tottenham, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Chelsea to draws this season.

United with work to do in top-four chase

There was something ironic about the fact that Manchester United lost Thursday night's league game at Brighton courtesy of a last-gasp penalty, when the Red Devils had recently inflicted a penalty shoot-out defeat on the same opponents in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley.

Luke Shaw's clumsy handball gave the Seagulls a golden shot, and Alexis Mac Allister seized the opportunity.

That reverse means that Erik ten Hag's United have now won just two of their last eight Premier League away matches, a run that includes a 7-0 thrashing at Liverpool, a 2-0 defeat at Newcastle and a dramatic 3-2 loss at Arsenal.

With Liverpool and Brighton applying consistent pressure, United's grip on a top-four spot isn't quite as secure as it once was, although it's worth considering that three of their remaining five PL games are at Old Trafford.

United will also take solace from their recent record against West Ham. Our friends at Opta tell us that the Red Devils have won their last five Premier League matches against the Hammers, and in all competitions they have won seven of the clubs' last eight meetings. Both of this season's competitive meetings have been at Old Trafford, and ten Hag's side won 1-0 in the league and 3-1 in the FA Cup.

Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez are both out injured, so it's just as when that Victor Lindelof has stepped up recently in central defence. Alejandro Garnacho is still sidelined, while Scott McTominay hopes to recover from a knock.

Jaded visitors are unattractively priced

I can't get on board with backing Manchester United to win here at around 2.111/10, especially given their recent away form.

Ten Hag has had to fight on four fronts this term, winning the League Cup, going all the way to the FA Cup final and reaching the last eight of the Europa League. All of this seems to be taking its toll, with injuries to key players, and others like Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford playing game after game.

West Ham showed real steel against City the other night, they were a touch unfortunate at home to Liverpool and they came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with title-chasing Arsenal. Keep an eye on the team news, but if Aguerd and Rice return I'd certainly advocate backing West Ham +0 & +0.5 on the Asian Handicap at 2.1411/10.

Cards and corners the way to profit

I'll use the Sportsbook's Bet Builder to back Over 1.5 Cards, Over 7.5 Corners, Casemiro to commit at least one foul and Marcus Rashford to have at least one shot on target.

Going into this weekend only Wolves had a worse disciplinary record than Manchester United, who have collected 71 Premier League cautions and two reds. I expect this to be a competitive game, and I don't think it's a lot to ask for there to be two cards shown. Meanwhile, both teams' PL games this term have averaged 10.2 corners per game.

Casemiro has committed 39 fouls in the league in 23 games, while Rashford averages 1.46 shots on target per 90 in the Premier League this season.