West Ham Predicted XI: More of the Same from Moyes’ Men
By Adam Smith
Leicester City pose a massive threat to West Ham who are looking to build some momentum. In order to do so, David Moyes can let his starting XI pick itself.
A surprising result last week has made David Moyes’ team selection rather easy. Wolves were a daunting matchup for a West Ham team that showed promise against Arsenal but still struggled to see out the match. That script was quickly flipped.
A five-at-the-back team seemingly neutralized the dynamic Wolves attack and extra-wide support helped ignite the offence to a lopsided 4-0 triumph. On the backs of every member of the team, the Hammers looked strong and resolute, earning their big victory thoroughly.
This all came crashing back down to earth as the “B Team” failed to impress in their 4-1 loss to Everton in the Carabao Cup. The overall play wasn’t terrible, but individual mistakes helped the Toffees cruise to a comfortable win, bumping the Irons from the League Cup.
Related Story. Marquee Matchup as West Ham Take on Leicester. light
The doom and gloom was quickly forgotten as Vladimir Coufal was announced as the club’s first signing of the window. The veteran right-back will slot in over injured Ryan Fredericks and will hopefully be the only change in the team predicted below:
Fabianski
Coufal – Diop – Ogbonna – Cresswell – Masuaku
Rice – Soucek
Bowen – Antonio – Fornals
Bench: Randolph, Balbuena, Johnson, Noble, Anderson, Yarmolenko, Haller
Welcome to the team, Vlad, here is your first task: bailing out the team defensively and igniting some offence from out wide all against a strong and ferocious Leicester City team! After playing midweek, Coufal is in game shape but will David Moyes and Alan Irvine trust him to start just a few days after his arrival in England?
The other big decision comes with Issa Diop’s return to training (along with Josh Cullen) after his COVID-19 diagnoses and subsequent quarantine. If Diop is fit does he bench Fabian Balbuena? Does Cresswell start at left center-back as well? There are massive questions about defensive picks, but not overthinking it assembles the team above.
The benched trio of Felipe Anderson, Andriy Yarmolenko, and Sebastien Haller made team selection easy for the manager as all three failed to impress or make an impact against Everton. All three should be on the bench, but nothing more for the underperforming crew.
Next. GSH Match Predictions – West Ham at Leicester City. dark
Moyes, either virtually or in person, has a rather simple job to do. If he keeps the team as close to the team that succeeded against Wolves, Leicester City could too be in for a rude awakening. All eyes will fall on the right wingback position pre-match to see if the Hammers new man gets the start.