Alex Kral and Nikola Vlasic unlikely to start for West Ham v Southampton
David Moyes is unlikely to hand Alex Kral and Nikola Vlasic their first West Ham starts against Southampton, according to a report in Football London.
France international Kurt Zouma is expected to be thrown into the mix as Moyes is worried about the Hammers defence.
Kral is set to play as backup or in rotation with Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek while Vlasic is also not likely to start ahead of Jarrod Bowen, Pablo Fornals, Said Benrahma and Michail Antonio, given their good performances at the start of this season.
Alphonse Areola is also waiting for the nod from the West Ham boss to make his debut for the London outfit.
Makes sense
The Hammers have started this season impeccably, winning two and drawing one of their three games thus far.
In attack, they have been a joy to watch, scoring a league-high 10 goals already.
However, defensively is where the problems have lied, and bringing Zouma in makes a whole lot of sense.
Craig Dawson has struggled and has made some costly mistakes that have led to the Hammers either conceding a goal or a clear-cut goal-scoring opportunity.
Moyes is unlikely to switch to a midfield three at least in a game against Southampton where they’re likely to dominate possession, so Kral will not be staring.
Getting Vlasic in for either of the front four will be unjust and the same can be said for Areola in place of Lukasz Fabianski.
Eventually, all of them will get their time in the sun, but as things stand, Moyes would be best without making any radical changes so quickly.
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