Gianluca Scamacca to be axed, three changes – West Ham United predicted XI v Tottenham
West Ham play host to local rivals Tottenham on Wednesday night and will look to ride the wave of momentum created by their first win of the season.
The Hammers claimed a 1-0 win at Villa Park thanks to Pablo Fornal’s fortunate strike against Aston Villa on Sunday, earning them their first points and goal of the campaign so far.
That performance was turned on it’s head when David Moyes made a tactical switch at half-time, but what changes is he likely to make for this game to keep the good vibes going in a huge gam for the fans?
In goal Lukasz Fabianski has retained his place as the number one goalkeeper in the Premier League and should start, despite the good form and permanent signing of Alphonse Areola.
Moyes’ five at the back experiment didn’t work too well against Aston Villa at the weekend, but with Antonio Conte lining up with a 3-4-3 system he is likely to try it once again to match up with them all over the pitch.
Thilo Kehrer, Kurt Zouma and Aaron Cresswell all got the nod in the centre at the weekend and with Ben Johnson injured while Angelo Ogbonna and Craig Dawson still not 100% fit it’s likely to stay that way.
Because of Johnson’s injury Vladimir Coufal should come back into the side as the right wing-back, while Emerson Palmieri is likely to get another chance from the start on the left too in an unchanged back line.
Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice finally have competition in midfield following the arrival of Lucas Paqueta from Lyon in a club-record deal, but it’s unlikely that the Brazilian will go straight into the starting lineup with minimal training with his new club.
Jarrod Bowen should have scored against Villa when he went through in a one on one but he hasn’t look as sharp this season as he did last season, but the England international should still retain his starting spot such is his importance to the side.
On the left Said Benrahma has been in great form in recent weeks and impacted the game brilliantly from the bench once again against Villa, and he should be rewarded with a start on the left in this game.
Up front Gianluca Scamacca was finally given a start but was feeding off scraps throughout and disappointed, before Michail Antonio came on and injected some pace and urgency to the attack.
Because of that Moyes is likely to go with what he knows better and Antonio should get the nod, relegating the £34m summer signing back to a substitutes role at the London Stadium.
West Ham predicted XI v Spurs: Fabianski; Kehrer, Zouma, Cresswell; Coufal, Rice, Soucek, Emerson; Bowen, Antonio, Benrahma