Said Benrahma axed, Emerson to start – West Ham United predicted XI v Liverpool
David Moyes is expected to make changes to his West Ham United starting lineup for the upcoming Premier League clash against Liverpool on Wednesday (26 April).
The Hammers continued their recent revival under Moyes with a thoroughly convincing 4-0 win against Bournemouth at the weekend (23 April) to move six points clear of the relegation zone, but face a tough test as they welcome Jurgen Klopp’s side at the London Stadium.
With a flurry of fixtures awaiting West Ham over the next few weeks, including a Europa Conference League semi-final against AZ Alkmaar, Moyes will be wary of running his players into the ground and is, therefore, likely to tinker with his team.
Although Alphonse Areola has become the regular European goalkeeper for West Ham, Lukasz Fabianski has remained an ever-present in the Premier League and will therefore likely start in between the sticks.
In defence, Moyes has a number of options to call upon, but after keeping an impressive clean sheet on the south coast, the Scot is expected to make one change to his back-four.
Despite playing well against the Cherries, Aaron Cresswell is likely to be rested on the bench and replaced by Italian full-back Emerson, who has been impressive when called upon recently and hopefully has the pace to deal with Mo Salah.
Alongside the 28-year-old, Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd will be tasked with keeping Liverpool quiet in the heart of defence while Vladimír Coufal is expected to start at right-back.
Flynn Downes will very much come into Moyes’ thinking for a starting midfield berth, but the experience of Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek as a pair should mean they are fielded in central midfield.
The fact that Gianluca Scamacca is the only injured player in the West Ham United squad leaves Moyes with a plethora of attacking options to call upon.
Said Benrahma, who has scored five goals from 29 Premier League outings this campaign, was disappointing against Gent and Bournemouth last week, so is likely to be dropped to the bench in place of either Maxwel Cornet or Pablo Fornals.
However, considering the jaw-dropping scorpion kick that Fornals scored when coming off the bench at the weekend, the Spaniard deserves a shot at starting from the first whistle.
Despite picking up a minor knock, Lucas Paqueta should be deemed fit enough to start in central attacking midfield, while Jarrod Bowen is highly likely to start on the right wing.
After netting two goals in two games last week, Michail Antonio will look to continue his rich vein of form at the tip of Moyes’ attack.