Watch United's U23s v West Ham at Old Trafford
Manchester United’s Under-23s will face West Ham United at Old Trafford on Friday evening and entrance to the Premier League 2 fixture is free for all supporters.
Neil Wood’s side have made an excellent start to the 2019/20 campaign by winning all three league fixtures, as well as a Leasing.com Trophy match away at Rotherham United, without conceding a goal.
The Hammers, who are the only other team with a 100 per cent record in our division, lie in wait later this week.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the top-of-the-table clash...
HOW CAN YOU WATCH IT?
The game, which is being played at Old Trafford instead of our usual Academy venue at Leigh Sports Village, kicks off at 19:00 BST on Friday 30 August and all supporters will be able to attend the match free of charge.
According to Premier League rules, each club must host at least three league matches at their main stadium during the course of the season. This is the first Under-23s match to be held at Old Trafford this season - in 2018/19 we hosted Stoke City, Reading and West Bromwich Albion in M16.
Fans can enter the stadium via tier one of the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand.
If you cannot make it in person, you can watch the action live on MUTV via your laptop or PC. The MUTV app, which offers both live programmes and on-demand content, is also now available on Xbox One, Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV, as well as the iOS and Android app stores. The channel is still available on Sky and Virgin Media in the UK and Ireland.
OUR SEASON SO FAR
It’s been a positive first month of the campaign for the Reds under the tutelage of Neil Wood and Quinton Fortune, who were appointed to their new roles in July. Our first-ever involvement in the Leasing.com Trophy saw us travel to Rotherham United, where second-half goals from Ethan Laird and Largie Ramazani gave us a 2-0 win over the League One outfit.
The Premier League 2 season began with a 5-0 victory against West Bromwich Albion, with James Garner netting twice and performing superbly. Largie Ramazani, D'Mani Mellor and Dylan Levitt also scored for the Reds.
Reading were then seen off in Leigh thanks to further goals from Mellor and Garner before Newcastle United were beaten 4-0 at St James Park last Friday, with Tahith Chong – who featured on the first team’s pre-season tour – scoring twice and Garner and Ramazani adding to their burgeoning tallies.
A LOOK AT OUR OPPONENTS
In Division 2 of Premier League 2, only the side that finishes first is guaranteed promotion and, although it's still early days, judging by results so far it could be a straight shoot-out between United and West Ham for that automatic berth.
Dmitri Halajko’s side, which features several players who have already made their first-team bows, including Ben Johnson and Xande Silva, have also won each of their opening three games, with a 2-1 victory at Newcastle sandwiched between 3-0 home wins over Reading and Fulham. Joe Powell is one to watch for the visitors, with the forward on target in each of the Hammers’ last two games.
Our superior goal difference currently places us above the Londoners in the table, but Friday will be another tough test against a side that came down from the top division last season.
Get yourself down to Old Trafford - for free - on Friday evening to cheer the lads on!
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