WHZ View: West Ham predicted XI v Liverpool
West Ham manager David Moyes is predicted to name an unchanged starting line-up for the fourth consecutive game when the Irons take on Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday evening.
Since losing their opening two matches against Newcastle and Arsenal, West Ham have gone on an unbeaten run that has seen that pick up wins against Wolves and Leicester and draws against Tottenham and Manchester City.
One worry ahead of the trip to Liverpool is Michail Antonio’s fitness after the forward limped off in both of the draws with Spurs and City.
However, the 30-year-old is expected to be available for Moyes on Merseyside this weekend with The Athletic journalist Roshane Thomas reporting on the U Irons podcast that he should be fine to play.
With no other fitness concerns for the rest of the side that started the 1-1 draw with City last week, Moyes is predicted to stick to his guns when it comes to naming a side to play against reigning Premier League champions Liverpool.
Lukasz Fabianski is pretty much nailed-on to start in goals behind a back-three of Fabian Balbuena, Angelo Ogbonna and Aaron Cresswell. Vladimir Coufal and Arthur Masuaku are expected to start in the right and left wing-back roles respectively.
Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek have been impressive in the centre of the midfield lately so are predicted to retain their spots with Jarrod Bowen and Pablo Fornals in the more advanced, wide areas of the pitch.
If Antonio isn’t fit enough to play against Liverpool then Moyes does have other options in Sebastien Haller and Andriy Yarmolenko while Bown could also be used as a centre-forward.
But based on Thomas’ update, we’re predicting Antonio to start again against the Reds and hopefully help the Irons keep up the stunning run of form they’ve found themselves in.
In other West Ham news, the club is scouting the Czech Republic for new players.