Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has backed West Ham to challenge for a top-six finish this season after witnessing their struggles last term.
West Ham make the trip to Villa Park on Sunday (22 October) sitting two points and two places behind their opponents, who are flying high in fifth.
United could climb into the European spots with a win this weekend - a far cry from 12 months ago when they were struggling at the wrong end.
Emery, speaking at a press conference on Friday (20 October), said he has been impressed with the way West Ham have turned things around.
"I respect West Ham, the players, the club, David Moyes, and I think they are being like two years ago," he is quoted as saying by the Birmingham Mail (20 October).
"Defensively they are very strong and their commitment, structure, is really strong.
"They were the team who struggled last year in the Premier League, but they were successful in the Europa Conference League.
"This year, I think they are trying to get a top-10 position and I think they can maybe be in the top six."
Keep it up
West Ham have indeed turned things around on the back of last season when eventually finishing in 14th place.
Winning the Europa Conference League was a superb achievement and rightly overshadowed what happened in the Premier League.
That said, United could not afford to have another poor domestic campaign this time around, and fair play to them for making a bright start.
The new players brought in have quickly settled, albeit with Moyes still favouring his slowly-slowly approach, while others have stepped up.
Unlike last season, West Ham are now going into league games with the confidence of picking up all three points, as is the case this weekend.
Villa Park has been a happy hunting ground for the Irons in recent years, which will hopefully continue for this latest trip with another win.
Should that happen, it will be the top four United are looking at, rather than just the top six.
In other West Ham news, a view put forward by a journalist regarding one of United's January targets is wide of the mark.
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