Predicted West Ham starting XI v Racing Genk
West Ham could make a number of changes to their side for Thursday’s Europa League clash against Racing Genk at the London Stadium.
The Irons beat Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park on Sunday and they should head into tomorrow’s fixture in confident form with a three-point advantage over their Group H rivals.
David Moyes’ side have won both of their European games by a 2-0 scoreline, and if they can achieve a similar result against the Belgian outfit in east London, then they will have one foot in the knockout stages.
There could be some changes on Thursday, though.
West Ham face a London derby clash against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, so Moyes may well have an eye on that.
One likely change is in goal, with Alphonse Areola starting the club’s previous European outing against Rapid Wien, and that will see Lukasz Fabianski drop to the bench.
Vladimir Coufal has been absent from training once again which should see Ben Johnson keep his place at right-back, though Ryan Fredericks is back in full training and may rival him for a spot [Tom Clark, Twitter].
Craig Dawson and Issa Diop also started against Rapid and should replace Kurt Zouma and Angelo Ogbonna at centre-back, while Arthur Masuaku may be handed only his second start of the season instead of Aaron Cresswell at left-back.
Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek are midfield mainstays under Moyes and should keep their starting berths with the Czech Republic midfielder confirmed fit to play after the injury he sustained at Goodison Park on Sunday [Tom Clark, Twitter].
Moyes also confirmed that Nikola Vlasic will start on Thursday, and he could form a new attacking midfield trio alongside Andriy Yarmolenko and Manuel Lanzini, with Pablo Fornals, Jarrod Bowen and Said Benrahma dropped to the bench.
Michail Antonio, as the club’s only recognised centre-forward, should start against Genk, but he is likely to be substituted if and when the game becomes comfortable and the Irons can see victory in the distance.
Here’s how we expect West Ham to line up against Genk on Thursday…
In other West Ham news, the Irons have made contact over this 16-cap centre-forward amid his contract impasse.
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