This West Ham lineup against Ipswich Town should definitely tempt Lopetegui

The international break is coming and before that, West Ham will face newly promoted side Ipswich Town at home in the seventh matchday. While the Hammers are the heavy favourites to take the three points from the match given the amount of quality and talent in their squad, Kieran McKenna's Ipswich Town have held top teams such as Aston Villa and Fulham to a draw in the recent weeks.

Moreover, Julen Lopetegui's side have looked unconvincing in front of the goal and have conceded ten goals in six league matches. Thus, the home fixture at the London Stadium is a well balanced match for both sides and West Ham will need to step up their performance to take their first home win in the Premier League. On that note, here is the strongest West Ham starting lineup for the upcoming Ipswich Town match. 

The strongest West Ham starting lineup to take a win against Ipswich Town

Goalkeeper and Defence

Although first choice goalkeeper Alphonse Areola has conceded a lot of goals in the recent matches, the 31-year-old is expected to be the starting goalkeeper for Julen Lopetegui's side. Recently, West Ham legend Tony Cottee discussed the goalkeeping situation at the club and suggested that the France international should improve his distribution and passing. However, Areola makes a lot of good saves in every game and will be expected to keep a clean-sheet in this home fixture.

New signings Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo should start in the central defence following a good defensive display against Brentford. Although the Hammers made a collective mistake on the opening goal, the centre-back partnership of Kilman and Todibo looked much reliable throughout the match. At left-back, Aaron Cresswell could return to the starting lineup for the first time this season, after a few underwhelming performances from Emerson in recent weeks.

Also, the Italy international made a late run while defending against Brentford, which led the home side to score the first goal of the match within the first minute. However, Emerson can be brought on as a second half substitute if West Ham need to find the winning goal in the match. On the other side of the defence, Aaron Wan-Bissaka is highly likely to start given his impressive recovery pace and defensive abilities.

Ipswich Town are a highly talented side going forward, and would take advantage of the empty spaces inside the final third if Wan-Bissaka starts in a more advanced fullback role. Thus, manager Julen Lopetegui should try to play Wan-Bissaka in a more defensive role inside the first half in order to avoid going 1-0 down against Kieran McKenna's Ipswich Town.