Man United vs West Ham LIVE: Carabao Cup team news and latest build-up tonight

Juan Mata is looking forward to getting back to the Theatre of Dreams and playing in front of the home support for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s always fantastic to see Old Trafford full, so hopefully it’s going to be full, I know they [the fans] will be supporting us.” said Mata

“We have been waiting for so long to have them back so it’s great to play in front of them and hopefully we can give them a good game.

“It’s [the support] key for us. Football without fans means nothing and especially our fans, both home and away, they give us so much,

“When we play in front of them, everyone feels one level higher in excitement and everything. So, hopefully we can have a great season for them because they have been waiting for so long to come back and support us.”

“It’s always the outcome that decides the headline that we’ll see,” Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said on Thursday.

And so Jesse Lingard’s sublime winner, followed by David de Gea’s strong penalty save from Mark Noble in the dramatic dying embers at London Stadium, ensures it’s all Glory Glory Man United.

Enter the gushing over not the player who produced the decisive goal at a pivotal moment, nor the one who significantly prevented one with his first spot-kick save since 2016.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who – of course, of course! – continued his habit of sticking the round thing in the rectangular thing will attract the fuss. Come and adore him.

David Moyes has faced Manchester United 32 times during his managerial career, 24 of them with Everton, two with Sunderland and six with West Ham United but he’s only won four and drew seven of those games. He’s lost 21.

Moyes also managed Manchester United 51 times during the 2013-14 season, winning 26, drawing ten and losing 15, including home and away Premier League victories over West Ham.

Manchester United and West Ham United have met in the EFL Cup on three previous occasions, with the Hammers triumphing once and The Red Devils twice.

The most recent meeting in this competition was in the 2016-17 season when the Man Utd defeated West Ham 4-1 at Old Trafford in the fourth round.

West Ham will better remember their November 2010 clash at the Boleyn Ground, when a brace apiece from Carlton Cole and Jonathan Spector carried them to a thumping 4-0 triumph.

The third game in the EFL Cup came back in October 1985 when the Red Devils won 1-0 at Old Trafford.

What does the fourth meeting have in store for us?

Despite both teams making a lot of changes to their starting XI this should be a good game, especially for the neutrals. The last seven fixtures between these sides have been closely-fought affairs with plenty of drama.

Usually they end with Manchester United on top, like on Sunday, but West Ham always give them a game. Expect nothing less tonight.

Changes galore for tonight’s game. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer swaps out his entire team for this evening’s Carabao Cup third round.

There’s a return for Dean Henderson in goal as he looks to compete for the number one spot again. Donny van de Beek and Jadon Sancho bot start in midfield hoping to impress and Jesse Lingard starts after his winning goal at the weekend.

David Moyes also rings in the changes with only Jarrod Bowen keeping his place. Club captain Mark Noble can make amends after missing the penalty to earn the Hammers a draw on Sunday whilst Alphonse Areola gets a run out in goal.

Man Utd XI: Henderson, Dalot, Lindelof, Bailly, Telles, Mata, Matic, Sancho, Van de Beek, Lingard, Martial

West Ham XI: Areola, Fredericks, Johnson, Diop, Dawson, Masuaku, Kral, Noble, Lanzini, Yarmolenko, Bowen

There are bigger priorities than this domestic cup in United’s season, but after several near misses he’s still looking for his first trophy – and ending Man City’s recent dominance of the competition is another incentive to go the distance.

West Ham have never won the competition, last reaching the final in 1981 and losing to Liverpool after a replay, but a huge improvement under David Moyes might have fans feeling that winning a domestic cup is not beyond them this year.

Manchester United’s Juan Mata is prepared to face West Ham again after their close fought encounter on Sunday in the Premier League.

West Ham went in front through Said Benrahma before Cristiano Ronaldo equalised. Jesse Lingard came on as a second half substitute to score against his former teammates and put Man Utd 2-1 up but they needed David De Gea to stop a final minute penalty to complete their win.

“It was a great way of winning with that penalty at the end, with that save at the end. I was very, very happy for him [De Gea], he deserved a day like that,” Mata said.

“But we are moving on, we are thinking already about the next game because as you know, we have many games now, so there’s no time for celebrating a lot. It’s time for feeling good but getting ready for the next one.

“They will probably make some changes, so maybe the personnel is a tiny [bit] different but they still have a very competitive squad, we know how difficult it is going to be to beat them but we play at home and hopefully we can have a great game.”

Phil Jones will return to the Manchester United squad after a 20-month absence for this evening’s Carabao Cup third-round tie with West Ham.

The centre-back has not played for the first team since an FA Cup fourth-round tie at Tranmere in January 2020, when he was one of the scorers in a 6-0 win.

The 29-year-old has been out with a long-term knee injury and following surgery 13 months ago his rehabilitation was complicated by travel restrictions during lockdown.

“I’m so happy for Phil,” Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told MUTV.

“He has completed two 90 minutes for the Under-23s, played some minutes behind closed doors and he’s got no reaction on his knee. He’s been working really hard.”