The big Dutchmen came into today’s press conference in a positive mood announcing, “This morning, we didn’t need any players from the second team and that is a plus”. He was also pleased at the result of the international games, “I am very happy because there are no injuries from the international games. I think we’re in a good way".
According to van Gaal Utd only have “four players injured now”, Michael Carrick, Jonny Evans, Marouane Fellaini and Chris Smalling are the four who will be missing from this game as well as Wayne Rooney after his red card in the 2-1 victory at home to West Ham United. Phil Jones, Ander Herrera and Ashley Young all face late fitness tests.
His side are still looking for their first away win of the season but van Gaal warned of the dangers that lay ahead; “I think West Brom are very difficult to beat, especially there at their home. They play not only long balls but they also play a positional game”. Utd should be wary of their opponents, despite narrowly losing to Liverpool 2-1 two weeks ago their previous three games were wins including a 1-0 win away to Tottenham Hotspur.
Utd are also starting to recover from an early season sticky patch, they beat QPR 4-0 before losing to Leicester City 5-3 but have since won their last two against tough sides in West Ham and Everton. Utd do have history on their side though, their last game away to the Hawthorns was a 3-0 win and including that game they have visited the Midlands side 8 times in the Premier League Era winning 7 times and drawing only once, the crazy 5-5 draw to conclude Sir Alex Ferguson’s time at the helm of Manchester United.