West Ham United confirmed XI v Anderlecht: Oliver Scarles makes first squad
West Ham United are in Belgium this evening to take on league champions Anderlecht in the third game of the Europa Conference League.
The Hammers are currently two wins from two games in the group stage after cruising past FCSB of Romania and Silkeborg of Denmark prior to the international break.
They now face back-to-back Thursdays against the Belgian champions and victory in both games would secure their passage through to the knockout rounds and potentially top spot in the group too.
That is something that the Irons will hope to strive for as winning their group means they would head straight into the round of 16 and not have to face a third-place Europa League side in a playoff tie.
Moyes has opted to make several changes to the side that won 2-0 at home to Wolves on Saturday with Maxwel Cornet missing out through injury and replaced by Pablo Fornals among the nine changes while 16-year-old Oliver Scarles makes the bench for the first time.
Non-negotiable
With a hectic fixture schedule between now and the World Cup seeing a game every single midweek, West Ham can’t afford to be losing this kind of fixture.
Moyes will be banking on the fact that he can entirely rest and rotate his side in the final two games of the group stage against FCSB and Silkeborg with top spot in the bag after four matches.
To do that, they have to win in Belgium tonight and then again at the London Stadium next week which should see them on 12 points and an unassailable tally.
If they can achieve that, players like Declan Rice, Gianluca Scamacca and Lucas Paqueta can all be left to rest at home rather than shipped around Europe.
The Premier League has to be the priority this early in the season when anything can happen so attention can switch to Europe once things look settled on home soil.