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Nicholas predicts West Ham v Man United

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Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has praised West Ham United striker Charlie Nicholas, saying he’s a real ‘handful’.

The Frenchman has scored three times in four Premier League games since joining the Hammers for a club record fee this summer. With that said, Nicholas believes the 25-year-old can help fire his team to a 2-1 victory over Manchester United on Sunday.

“West Ham always have an angle of anger when Manchester United come,” he wrote on the Sky Sports website. “West Ham are a strong side and their midfield is physical – I don’t know what Man Utd’s situation will be.

“I do not see a style with Man Utd and West Ham are capable of beating them here. Felipe Anderson started the season slow last year and then started to influence the team more. Manuel Lanzini is back in and Sebastian Haller looks a handful up front – they were the best I have seen them defensively on Monday too.”

OPINION

It’s a bit harsh for Nicholas to say that Anderson started last season slowly. He seemed to make a pretty snappy start to life in English football, but perhaps the Sky man remembers it differently. This season, though, he has largely been his effervescent self. He’s had the odd sub-par game, but against Norwich, for example, he was absolutely unplayable. Either way, the Brazilian is very much at top level now, as Nicholas says. As for Haller, he is certainly a handful. The former Eintracht Frankfurt man looks like an absolute home run of a signing. The Hammers needed to get someone quality in to replace Marko Arnautovic up front, and it looks like they have done that and then some. He’s been putting the ball in the back of the net with regularity, and looks to be a perfect fit alongside Messrs Anderson, Lanzini and Andriy Yarmolenko in the final third. With that said, it would be no surprise at all to see them repel United on Sunday.

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