6 changes to be made, Michail Antonio to stay on the bench, Thilo Kehrer to make debut – West Ham United predicted XI v Brighton
West Ham are looking to earn their first Premier League points of the season this weekend when they take on Brighton at the London Stadium on Sunday.
The Hammers claimed their first victory of the season with a 3-1 win over Viborg in midweek in the Europa Conference League qualifier with a much changed team, after league defeats to Manchester City and Nottingham Forest.
But with attention turning back to the league now, David Moyes must make some big decisions on his starting lineup for the best chance to take all three points from the game.
Alphonse Areola was impressive once again in Europe during the week, but Lukasz Fabianski is seemingly the number one in the Premier League yet again and should return between the sticks.
In defence the arrival of Thilo Kehrer has given the boss a fresh option at centre-back and the German could be given his first start alongside Kurt Zouma, with Angelo Ogbonna stepping out to not rush his recovery.
Vladimir Coufal filled in at left-back during the week while Aaron Cresswell served a suspension, but he should move back to his usual right-back slot for the 32-year-old to come back into the side.
In midfield Declan Rice was suspended too after his outburst at officials last season in the Europa League but he will certainly return to the side, and will be partnered by Tomas Soucek once again.
Further ahead of them the boss has got plenty of options.
Jarred Bowen got his first goal of the season in a short display in midweek and has made the right wing spot his own, and will start once again looking to build on that momentum he created for himself in that game.
On the left Maxwel Cornet made his debut and earned a fantastic assist in a solid performance and showed he is ready to contribute more, and could step in to offer more pace and creativity from the wing.
That opens a spot for a less mobile number ten who has plenty of creativity, and Said Benrahma has been in great form in recent weeks as a substitute and deserves a start in the game in his favoured position.
There is a decision to make for the striker too, with Michail Antonio starting the first two games but struggling to make a real impact. That opened the door for Gianluca Scamacca to start against Viborg and he scored a great goal, before Antonio netted off the bench.
But after poor performances in the first two games, Scamacca deserves the chance to show himself as the starting striker in the league and Moyes can send a message to Antonio that he needs to fight for his place.
West Ham predicted XI vs Brighton: Fabianski; Coufal, Kehrer, Zouma, Cresswell; Rice, Soucek; Bowen, Benrahma, Cornet; Scamacca