Not Brave, Not Brash; West Ham Predicted XI Stays Familiar

A fresh start after a stint of intimidating fixtures ushers in an unchanged West Ham team to get a run-out against Scotty Parker’s Fulham squad.

The Premier League is the most competitive league in the world for good reason; any team on any day can beat their opposition and no length of strong form for West Ham will give any supporter unwavering faith heading into a matchday.

Still, the Hammers are stronger on paper and have performed much better than Fulham this season and if they play to their strengths this match should be three points or bust for David Moyes’ team.

The majority of the pressure in this game rests on one man’s shoulders, Sebastien Haller, who was blanked in a half-hearted effort against Liverpool. While many are calling for him to be dropped, instead Haller should and will be backed to kickstart and pilot West Ham’s offence.

Here is the predicted XI to support Haller’s bid for renaissance form:

Fabianski
Coufal – Balbuena – Ogbonna – Cresswell – Masuaku
Rice – Soucek
Bowen – Haller – Fornals

Bench: Randolph, Fredericks, Diop, Snodgrass, Lanzini, Benrahma, Yarmolenko

That is an unchanged XI down to every single bench position. First and foremost, Mark Noble misses out on yet another match with a rib injury, as confirmed by the club. This means Robert Snodgrass keeps his bench spot for the time being. Snodgrass can be cover in central midfield but will be a no-brainer sub if the Hammers are dominating possession and set-piece generation.

Against conventional wisdom, Moyes may be more likely to go to his reserve players than in recent matches. The primary reason being that Fulham will be easier to breakdown than Liverpool or Manchester City and if the offence isn’t clicking or working, he has options to test on his bench.

The biggest pending test would be more than four minutes of match time for Said Benrahma. Clearly, the Algerian winger is a part of the plan for the future but Moyes has insulated him from the Premier League’s two best teams. Why not invest some minutes into him to see what he can produce?

Likewise, Manuel Lanzini has to be rewarded for his goal against Tottenham. Technically this match is a London Derby and he loves scoring in these cross-town matches. West Ham and Lanzini are tied together and building the Jewel’s confidence back up would be mutually beneficial.

This team stays unchanged because they exceeded expectations through an immensely tough start to the season. Haller stays in the team because he is our only fit striker. The bench will be used because there is less of a gamble Fulham will break them down like Liverpool. Moyes’ system is simple and working, why change a thing?