West Ham will play in front of their biggest home crowd in almost two years when they return to London Stadium to host Atalanta in the Betway Cup today.
The Hammers will host tens of thousands of West Ham fans back into the London Stadium this afternoon, eclipsing the finale of the 2020/21 season against Southampton and making it the largest LS crowd in well over 18 months. If you live in the UK and want to watch the match, you need to be here. Due to broadcast restrictions, today’s match will not be streamed within the UK.
Leading up to the match, West Ham has been in top form since returning to action this preseason, never losing a match. Their matches have progressively gotten tougher week in and week out, culminating with today’s affair against last year’s 3rd place side in Serie A.
Hammers fans will be happy to see their warrior-king captain return, as Declan Rice will be sure to feature in today’s festivities. Leaving just Winston Reid as the only senior team member not yet back with the club. It is hopeful that Jarrod Bowen will also be returning, which will be needed in what is sure to be a fast-paced matchup.
Betway Cup Preview: West Ham finally return home
With Bowen and Rice, West Ham is likely to see the returns of Tomas Soucek, Vladimir Coufal, Andriy Yarmolenko, and newcomer Alphonse Areola. With these six preseason returnees and additions, David Moyes will have a starting XI dilemma on his hands for maybe the first time all preseason.
The Defiance
The Seria A is no foe to the attacking side of football, and Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio is no different. The Lamborghini Veneno of football has been a free-wheeling machine, rewriting the goal-scoring history books. From the past three seasons, Atalanta has never scored less than 265 Serie A goals at an average of 2.32 goals per game.
The Goddesses are exactly what West Ham and David Moyes should strive to be. Their success has been based on a massive scouting network, shrewd recruitment, and their player progression has been outstanding. They lack the funds of other top clubs, but they succeed through this method, one that the Hammer’s Gaffer has been striving towards as well.
This will be West Ham’s toughest competition yet and will be their biggest hurdle in months. The Hammers will try and secure the Betway Cup for the second time since its conception in 2015. We predict that West Ham will prevail, making it a victorious preseason, as they finish off the Italian competition 4-3. COME ON YOU IRONS!