Bilic: We’re going to be even more confident against Manchester United in replay
West Ham boss Slaven Bilic has said that he is even more confident that his team can beat Manchester United in their FA Cup quarter-final replay. The Hammers drew 1-1 with United at Old Trafford last Sunday resulting in the only quarter-final replay of this season. West Ham dominated much of the game with Payet scoring a magnificent free kick to give the team the lead early in the second half. It was only after a few tactical substitutions by Louis van Gaal that Manchester United looked to threaten the Hammers, finally scoring a late equaliser just 10 minutes before full time.
Now Manchester United have to travel to Upton Park for the replay, Bilic says he’s even more confident that the team can get the job done on home soil. Speaking to the BBC, he said that “it’s going to be a tough game, but I fancy us because we’re going to be even more confident”. Many fans will agree with Bilic, as Manchester United’s away form has been poor all season. The team have won just 8 of their 23 away games they’ve played in all competitions this season.
If Bilic’s confidence pays off, then it will be the first time West Ham reaches the semi-final of the FA Cup in a decade. Many fans wouldn’t have believed that a semi-final position was possible after the Hammers were knocked out in an embarrassing 4-0 thrashing by West Brom in the fifth round of the tournament last year. But the new manager has managed to completely turn around the fortunes of the club in just one season.
He has already secured more points for the team than we finished the season with last year with 9 games to spare. He has performed so well that in fact bookmakers Betway have him as the least likely Premier League manager to be sacked next this season. Bilic has odds of just 100/1 in the Next Manager betting odds to be sacked, beating the manager with the second most secure seat in the game Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp at 80/1. Those next manager betting odds are a lot different to that of Louis van Gaal, who has odds of 11/2 to be the next casualty of the Premier League manager merry-go-round. Since Betway even have a separate next manager betting market on who will replace Louis van Gaal, many people are asking themselves whether it’s a safe bet he’s the next manager to leave?
So as the team goes in with their manager confident that they’ll win, and the fans and even the next manager betting markets confident in the manager, this should be season where the Hammers can really dream about lifting that all important trophy. Whatever happens, this will be the last FA Cup match ever to be played at Upton Park, so everyone inside that historic stadium will want to make it one to remember.


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