Danny Ings to make rare start after fresh Lucas Paqueta blow, two changes – West Ham United predicted XI v Brighton
West Ham United could be set to make two changes to their line-up ahead of their game against Brighton on Tuesday 2 January.
The Hammers will be on the prowl for a fourth successive win in the Premier League when they take on the Seagulls at the London Stadium.
However, manager David Moyes will be faced with a selection dilemma ahead of the game after fresh blows to Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus now confirmed to be out of the game for the African Cup of Nations.
Fresh from a tremendous 2-0 win over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium (28 December) will be looking for some continuity in his eleven, especially in the defence.
Alphonse Areola will be sure to start in goal barring a miraculous injury blow after a sensational display against the Gunners where he recorded a whopping eight saves [SofaScore] helping his team to a priceless clean sheet.
Vladimir Coufal and Emerson should continue at right-back and left-back respectively.
However, at centre-back, it may not be a surprise to see Moyes stick with Angelo Ogbonna and Konstantinos Mavropanos after Nayef Aguerd (illness) and Kurt Zouma (knee) missed the game at the Emirates.
Both players are scheduled to return to the team for Tuesday’s game against the Seagulls according to Injury Expert Ben Dinnery (31 December) but Moyes would be silly to change a winning formula after Ogbonna and Mavropoanos put in a superb defensive display, with the latter grabbing his first West Ham United goal against his former club.
In defensive midfield, the trusted duo of Tomas Soucek and Edson Alvarez are likely to start once more.
However, it’s in attack where Moyes will face a real selection headache.
Paqueta seemingly ruled himself out of the clash against the Seagulls on social media (29 December) after being withdrawn in the first half of their win at Arsenal with a knee injury so Moyes could turn to Pablo Fornals on the left.
Said Benrahma may well have been pushing for a start but his rare penalty miss in the closing stages of the Arsenal win will not have done his chances any good.
Summer signing Kudus will miss the game because of his African Cup of Nations commitments for Ghana, despite West Ham United making a plea to the Ghana Federation to have him available.
As a result of Kudus’ absence, Moyes could be tempted to place Jarrod Bowen back in his favoured right-wing role and deploy £15m man Danny Ings up front in what will be a rare start for the Englishman with his last and only start coming in the 2-1 win over Burnley (25 November).
With Kudus out of action for the foreseeable future, Moyes will certainly be left to rely on his fringe stars and Tuesday may present a last-chance saloon for Ings to stake his claim.
In other West Ham United news, the club has made a “100%” Moyes sack decision, with David Sullivan set to schedule a sit-down early next year.