Green Street Hammers
Fansided

Will or wont they? Predicting West Ham’s Bournemouth lineup

By Adam Smith

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 31: Angelo Ogbonna of West Ham in action with Teemu Pukki of Norwich during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Norwich City at London Stadium on August 31, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 31: Angelo Ogbonna of West Ham in action with Teemu Pukki of Norwich during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Norwich City at London Stadium on August 31, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Who needs a kick in the backside? Who is injured? Who is going to return from injury? There are a lot of questions about the starting XI heading into Bournemouth away.

Let’s start with what we do know, working from the back out. Fabianski is a must-start for West Ham at all costs. In the embarrassing loss to Oxford in the Carabao Cup Roberto got the start. Instead of a backup keeper, Roberto looked more like a fan who won a contest to play in net for the Hammers. It should go without saying; Fabianski is in.

Left-back will see Ryan Fredericks return to the team after the Cup match, too. He posted that he’s ready to go on Instagram and thank the lord he said so. Replaced against Manchester United late in the match, Fredericks’ speed is needed on the wing. Across the pitch from him, Aaron Cresswell will keep his place after an awesome performance by him, and a poor match by Masuaku.

Center-backs should be Ogbonna and Diop again, but Diop’s rope is certainly shorter after the Oxford match. He needs to be one of the young core players pushing the pace of play and keeping the game and he was one of the many who let West Ham down at Oxford. Ogbonna has been great, his return is a no-brainer.

Read. The Delorean Chronicles: West Ham v Bournemouth can be concerning. light

Holding midfield will obviously see the Irons duo of Noble and Rice return. Heartbeat, compete, skill, calming influence. These two are everything for the team and are direly needed.

Felipe Anderson and Andriy Yarmolenko are the two no-doubts for attackers. There was belief that Anderson has picked up a slight knock when thrust into action at Oxford but that has since been dispelled. Yarmolenko will look to keep the goals coming from out wide right.

Manuel Lanzini is the biggest question mark. It was originally believed that he would miss up to a month with a foot bruise but Pellegrini’s press conference revealed that the string-pulling jewel is fit an in contention for the starting XI. I say he risks it and we see Lanzini in this match.

Up top is Haller. He was forced into the Oxford match and needs to get going again after a little mini goal drought here. I back Haller for at least one goal in this match.

West Ham’s most usable FIFA 20 players for Ultimate Team. dark. Next

So there it is, the same old 4-2-3-1 formation we’ve come to know and love over the past few Premier League matches. There is midfield stability with Noble playing the box-to-box role, strength in Rice protecting the backline, and a ton of firepower up top. West Ham need a fast and sustained start in this match, a fit Lanzini helps this happen.