Rather than a moment of excitement and tactical wonder, West Ham’s starting lineups have been predictable and boring which is what can be expected vs. Chelsea.
This West Ham team is in desperate need of goals and has two unproven, young strikers looking to make an impact and stake their claim in the absence of Sebastien Haller. Instead, David Moyes has stayed committed to Michail Antonio isolated up top despite two games with almost zero offensive presence.
The entire West Ham world would love to see what Xande Silva has to offer, or what Albian Ajeti can do with some serious time commitment, but it has been two matches with Antonio running endlessly on hopeful longballs with no support.
Even Andriy Yarmolenko, a starting striker for the Ukrainian international football team cannot get a start or some sub minutes at center-forward because the Hammers manager is too scared to take a risk, regardless of there being literally no downside to making a change.
With this omen in mind, and a few hints dropped in his pre-match press conference, here is the predicted lineup for West Ham vs. Chelsea:
Fabianski
Fredericks – Diop – Balbuena – Cresswell
Rice
Bowen – Soucek – Noble – Fornals
Antonio
Bench: Randolph, Johnson, Ogbonna, Wilshere, Lanzini, Anderson, Ajeti, Yarmolenko, Silva.
As mentioned, Moyes’ pre-match press conference gave some hints about the Hammers team to face Noble. On the injury front, Moyes noted that Haller and Ogbonna were back training but both likely wouldn’t feature, while Masuaku is still out injured with a sprained ankle.
The other bit of news was West Ham’s “need” for Mark Noble in the team. Moyes stated that not many other players have his experience and can do the job he does, so he’s been picked again despite a near-unanimous feeling that he should be dropped for a more attacking gamble in Jack Wilshere or Manuel Lanzini.
Can this team beat Chelsea? Sure, but there would be a much higher chance if Moyes picked a younger, more attacking-minded squad that could pressure the Blues’ backline and try to encourage some offence. I suppose we’ll see, but wouldn’t some change be nice?