West Ham United confirm starting XI for clash v Aston Villa
West Ham have confirmed their starting line-up for their Premier League clash against Aston Villa at the London Stadium on Sunday 12 March.
David Moyes has decided to make five changes to the Hammers side that beat AEK Larnaca in the UEFA Europa Conference League on Thursday evening with Jarrod Bowen, Tomas Soucek, Emerson, Lucas Paqueta and Danny Ings coming into the starting XI.
As confirmed on Twitter prior to kick-off (12 March), Moyes made the decision to axe Pablo Fornals, Manuel Lanzini, Aaron Cresswell and Flynn Downes from the starting XI with Michail Antonio completely missing on the match-day squad due to a suspected injury.
Big one.
After a convincing win in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday evening, albeit against much-lower competition, the Hammers will be hoping for another big win at home against Villa.
Every game is in the must-win category for Moyes at the moment and Premier League survival is by no means a formality as things stand.
With Everton and Bournemouth gaining vital three points on 11 March and Leeds United gaining a solid draw, nothing less than three points is needed.
The Hammers looked a lot more free-flowing in Europe than they have in the English top flight and hopefully this kind of form can start to be translated domestically.
It’s been a frustrating old season so far, with many fans already drawing the line under Moyes’ tenure at the London Stadium.
Nevertheless, the Scot remains in the hot seat and it looks like the West Ham board have no intentions of getting rid of him just yet.
However, that stance might change if the Hammers suffered a damning defeat today.