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Manchester United travel to the capital to face West Ham in the lunch time kick off tomorrow (Saturday) as they continue their run of festive fixtures.

The Hammers sit just one point behind United in the table and will be hoping for a repeat of the 1-0 victory they enjoyed in the fixture last season.

United will want to open up a bit of a gap between themselves and David Moyes’ men. Meanwhile, the West Ham boss feels the two sides are now “direct rivals” in the Premier League.

As reported by The Mirror, speaking in his pre-match press conference, Moyes credits West Ham as challengers to break into the top echelons of the table and claims the fact his side can overtake United tomorrow is a testament to the progress made under his tutelage.

“It says a lot about where we are at the moment and what we’re doing that you’re talking about West Ham as direct rivals to Manchester United,” he said.

“We’re fighting hard to stick with the top teams if we can. If we win it could get us into the top six or seven at the weekend, we’re just outside at the moment.”

Moyes admits that European qualification is the aim for The Hammers this season and is hopeful of a good performance in the crunch game tomorrow.

“We want to keep that going, we want to keep pushing hard in the league and we want to try to get European football for a fourth year in a row if possible.

Manchester United at home, we have to try and use our home form to get something out of the game,” he added.

The Scot, who famously took the reins at Old Trafford after Sir Alex Ferguson retired, has rebuilt his career after his sacking from United just twelve months after taking the job.

With United no further on almost a decade after he left the post, Moyes feels he deserved more time in the role and will be desperate to remind his old employers of that tomorrow.

United are in need of the points to make up ground on the top four with their latest manager Erik ten Hag under pressure after a poor start to his second season in charge.