WHZ View: Bowen and Benrahma back – Predicted West Ham XI to face Leeds
Monday evening will be the first time in 19 years that West Ham have hosted Leeds United at home in the top-flight of English football.
The Hammers will be looking to bounce back from last weekend’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester City. They could start the match as low as 9th in the table if Liverpool and Tottenham win their matches on Sunday.
Leeds come into the clas having won twice in their last five games. The Whites haven’t won away from home since January 31st, but have had an excellent season under Marcelo Bielsa.
This will be another tricky game for David Moyes’ side, who are in the middle of a difficult run of matches.
West Ham Zone predict the Scot to name the following XI:
We seem to have a bit of a goalkeeper crisis at the moment. Lukasz Fabianski missed the match last weekend, whilst second keeper Darren Randolph has a hip problem. Based on Moyes’ pre-match comments, we think Fabianski may be available despite not training yet as of Friday. He still has a couple of days to recover.
We expect Moyes to revert to a back four, allowing an extra attacker to join the lineup. This will mean Ben Johnson would drop to the bench after a rough afternoon against Mahrez of Man City. Vladimir Coufal and Aaron Cresswell will occupy the full-back positions.
At the heart of defence could be the partnership of Issa Diop and Craig Dawson. The two have performed well in the absence of Angelo Ogbonna, but will have their hands full with Leeds’ talisman Patrick Bamford on Monday.
Declan Rice will likely captain the side next to Tomas Soucek. The pair are crucial to West Ham, and have played every minute of every league game together (apart from Soucek’s overturned red against Fulham). Our number 28 will be looking to add to his eight goals in the Premier League. He scored in the reverse fixture at Elland Road.
If Moyes is to revert back to a back-four, we expect there to be an attacking trio playing ahead of our midfield anchors. Jarrod Bowen will likely play down the right, with Jesse Lingard keeping his place as a number 10. He has been sensational since joining, and was nominated for the player of the month award for February.
We expect Moyes to bring Said Benrahma back into the team on Monday. He would replace the Spaniard Pablo Fornals, who started against City. Benrahma was arguably our best player in the reverse fixture, and offers more creativity going forward. He looked great in the 3-1 victory away to Villa, linking up well with Lingard. Fornals was excellent against City and worked hard, so could be rested here.
Upfront should be Michail Antonio. He scored his seventh league goal of the season at the Etihad and is four short of Paolo Di Canio’s 47 in the Premier League, a club record.
In other West Ham news, here is how Soucek’s winning mentality is driving us towards Europe.