Never change a winning team or a team that slings a last grasp drawing goal into the top corner of Tottenham’s goal. This should be the mantra David Moyes uses at West Ham.
Despite bench players making a world of difference for West Ham, don’t expect many if any changes to the starting XI for David Moyes. Moyes has picked the same team for back-to-back matches with an international break in the middle simply because he needs to keep getting points.
The biggest disappointment from West Ham this past week was that three goals were conceded by Moyes’ team. Playing five-at-the-back and conceding three goals will be unacceptable in the managers’ eyes, but he likely won’t blow up his backline that kept Tottenham’s impressive attack quiet for 70+ minutes.
The midfield is a non-starter. The double-pivot of Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek is incredibly effective for West Ham and is proving to possibly be amongst the best midfield tandems in the Premier League. They will remain together and central to his team’s success.
Here is the predicted XI and bench to face off against Manchester City:
Fabianski
Coufal – Balbuena – Ogbonna – Cresswell – Masuaku
Rice – Soucek
Bowen – Antonio – Fornals
Bench: Randolph, Fredericks, Diop, Noble, Yarmolenko, Haller, Lanzini
You read that correctly, no Said Benrahma on the bench in this match, and it is 100% the right decision to make! Manchester City are a globally elite team and this match will not be right for Benrahma to factor in a debut whether the Hammers are winning, losing or drawing.
With just one week of training under his belt, Benrahma is probably not as set in Moyes’ tactical plan just yet. Keeping the promising star away from the matchday squad right now is perfectly acceptable and is superb management of the newest Hammer.
Look for late-game heroes Manuel Lanzini and Andriy Yarmolenko to come off the bench alongside now-fit Sebastien Haller in this match to liven up the attack should the game be close. Pablo Fornals does keep his place in the team despite Lanzini’s goal but look for the system to change from a flat three attack to one central attacking mid with two wide strikers up top.
Can this team get a result against a team like Manchester City? Absolutely. The gelling of the players and positive atmosphere around the team is something that has been missing for quite some time and shouldn’t be overlooked for it’s impact on West Ham’s play. As unlikely as a 3-0 comeback in 12 minutes, these Irons could get a result.