Will West Ham stay unchanged against Manchester United?

I hit my first predicted XI last week against Aston Villa by boringly picking the same team as the week prior. My crystal ball will be needed this week as injury and performance have possibly forced multiple changes to the starting XI.

First things first, Manuel Pellegrini has made squad predictions for this team a little easier by supporting and stating Aaron Cresswell will be the starting left-back for the Manchester United match. With Arthur Masuaku sitting for a red card suspension, it was a three man race between natural left-back Cresswell, budding fullback Ben Johnson and veteran defender Pablo Zabaleta.

Zabaleta is needed for general cover on the bench and Johnson has to rehab a slight injury so the decision was made. Cresswell Was likely to be the starter anyway, but he’ll have a tough matchup against a young, quick Manchester United team.

Now that thats settled, what is the deal with Manuel Lanzini? Pellegrini told the media he faces a late fitness test and conventional wisdom would suggest he’ll start if he passes, but not so fast. West Ham just lost Michail Antonio, an injury-prone player, to a hamstring issue and probably wouldn’t push Lanzini into their starting XI even if he passes his physical.

Also, Andriy Yarmolenko failed to impress against Villa last week. Should he be dropped? Who will start for him? Both are valid questions for the Hammers right now because options to replace him are thin currently with Antonio out and Diangana on loan.

Alright, here’s my best guess to the starting XI:

Fabianski

Fredericks – Diop – Ogbonna – Cresswell

Noble – Rice

Yarmolenko – Fornals – Anderson

Haller

This allows for a bench of Roberto, Balbuena, Zabaleta, Snodgrass, Wilshere, Ajeti, Lanzini (if he’s fit but unable to start) or Sanchez. This group of players allows for Pellegrini to pack the midfield with substitutions to slow Manchester United down in either the preserving of a win or in the hopes of nicking a point at the end.

Nothing about this team worries me, and I believe both Pablo Fornals and Yarmolenko understand this is a massive opportunity for them to impress in what will be a tough and heavily scrutinized match against a top opponent.

Fornals hasn’t started as much as he would probably want at this point in the season, but his role will be earned not given under Pellegrini. His mistake to pass and not shoot against Villa was clearly an issue of game flow and experience, but I’m backing him for a break out performance against Manchester United.