Green Street Hammers
Fansided

Predicting West Ham’s Cup team for Oxford Away

By Adam Smith

NEWPORT, WALES - AUGUST 27: Jack Wilshere of West Ham United during the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Newport County and West Ham United at Rodney Parade on August 27, 2019 in Newport, Wales. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
NEWPORT, WALES - AUGUST 27: Jack Wilshere of West Ham United during the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Newport County and West Ham United at Rodney Parade on August 27, 2019 in Newport, Wales. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Many supporters have chimed in on social media to give their thoughts on who should be starting in West Ham’s Carabao Cup tie with Oxford United. With two predictions correct in a row, here’s my best guess at West Ham’s team.

There will be two notable groups of players in this team, so we might as well separate them for team selection:

The Senior Lads

This team will have to have senior players in it in order to securely set up and quell any sort of Oxford uprising. We wouldn’t want a full-blown Cup disaster like, let’s say losing to Colchester in penalties or anything!

So, it starts from the back end. West Ham currently have three fit and Cup ready center-backs so I’m going with Diop and Balbuena in central defense. Balbuena will give the senior Ogbonna the rest he needs, while Diop’s youthful spryness will be needed to play three matches in seven days for the Hammers. Zabaleta gets the start at right-back and Masuaku works himself back into the starting XI, too.

We can also agree that Roberto will be the starting keeper. He was great against Newport Country and will be called upon again when needed in this match.

The holding midfield duo is a mix of old and new for me. Carlos Sanchez can certainly fill a role for the club and Cup matches are just that. He looked solid against Newport, especially on the front foot and should be able to excel in this match too.

Jack Wilshere and Robert Snodgrass will make up the central and right-sided attacking midfielders for the Hammers as well. Wilshere scored the opening goal against Newport and had a great second half. The man needs minutes and this is where he can get them right now.

Snodgrass will be on set pieces and run his socks off. He’s included to keep the competition level high and set West Ham’s standard of play.

New Blood

More from Green Street Hammers - West Ham

There should be some important minutes to dole out for Manuel Pellegrini in this game, especially since the U23 team has gone 16-matches unbeaten. With ExWHUemployee reporting that Goncalo Cardoso hasn’t taken to English football as quickly as the team would have liked, he doesn’t factor into this team.

If Ben Johnson is healthy, he should get minutes. Whether it’s at left-back or right-back I think a healthy Johnson is playing, but until there is confirmation that he is fit I can’t put him in the lineup.

Conor Coventry is the first youngster in this team and he lines up in the holding midfield alongside Carlos Sanchez. A strong international break for Ireland and more great results for the development team should result in playing time for the senior team. Coventry has the potential to make this team next year and needs to start proving it now.

The long-awaited Nathan Holland call up also happens against Oxford. Holland looks and absolute gen of a player and recently factored into all four goals in the come-from-behind win over Middlesborough U23s. Holland is the crown jewel of the West Ham academy right now and this could be his opportunity to break out for Manuel Pellegrini.

Lastly, we have Albian Ajeti upfront. He didn’t do much against Newport County, but Ajeti is a natural goal scorer and will get 90 minutes to progress against Oxford United. I think we see a break out performance from him in this match and it could be solely due to Nathan Holland providing him the ball.

Roberto

Zabaleta – Diop – Balbuena – Masuaku

Coventry – Sanchez

Snodgrass – Wilshere – Holland

Ajeti

Next. Can West Ham finish 7th or higher this season?. dark

This leaves a potential bench of Fabianski, Noble, Rice, Cresswell Anderson, Haller, and I believe Anthony Scully, the under-the-radar striker that Holland has played so well with for the U23 team. With a strong veteran defensive unit, West Ham should see off Oxford and move onto the next round of the Carabao Cup. Don’t overlook the opposition and take the game to them, it’s a simple formula.