Kurt Zouma nowhere to be seen, Michail Antonio axed – West Ham confirmed XI v Arsenal
David Moyes has made five changes to his starting line-up ahead of West Ham United’s Carabao Cup clash with Arsenal on Wednesday night.
Ahead of kick-off at the London Stadium on 1 November, the Irons announced via their official X account that Alphonse Areola, Kurt Zouma, Aaron Cresswell, Jame Ward-Prowse and Michail Antonio have been replaced by Lukasz Fabianski, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Emerson Palmieri, Tomas Soucek and Said Benrahma.
Moyes has axed Antonio and not replaced him with a striker, meaning Bowen could be starting up front against and Arsenal who start with Declan Rice on the bench.
Zouma is nowhere to be seen in the squad.
Silverware on the cards
Moyes has already gone down in West Ham’s history thanks to the Europa Conference League victory last season.
But wouldn’t it be great to see him also add some fresh domestic silverware to the trophy cabinet at the London Stadium?
If there’s one thing that the Hammers have possibly lacked throughout their history, it’s domestic honours.
We’ve never won the top league title, we’ve never won the League Cup and we’ve only won three FA Cups, with the last one coming in 1980.
The league is obviously out of our sights for the foreseeable future but there’s every chance that West Ham can challenge for an FA Cup or a League Cup title in the coming years.
This season’s Carabao Cup is a great chance because some strong teams have already gone out in Tottenham and Manchester City, leaving Arsenal as the highest-ranking team left.
If the Irons can knock them out, it’s up for grabs.
Either Manchester United or Newcastle United will go out as they play each other – plus they haven’t been amazing this season – and Chelsea can’t be taken seriously.
Liverpool are away at Bournemouth so who knows? We could find ourselves favourites to win it if all goes our way on Wednesday night.
In other West Ham news, Qatar investment could see a Moyes sack decision accelerate at the club.