Today, West Ham travel to the Etihad to take on an in-form Manchester City side.
In the corresponding fixture last season, the Hammers upset the odds by defeating City 2-1 thanks to goals from Diafra Sakho and Victor Moses.
West Ham will be without both those players for one reason or another, but are also missing a number of key players.
Team News:
Firstly, the positives! West Ham are expected to welcome back Mark Noble to the side after he took the night off against Astra Giurgiu because he was suffering from fatigue.
New signing Edimilson Fernandes is eligible to play after joining from Sion on Thursday. Will likely start on the bench, while Simone Zaza hasn’t been registered in time to play today.
Manuel Lanzini has certainly travelled to Manchester with the first team squad after Slaven Bilic hinted he could feature. It’s unknown what capacity he’ll play in today if he even does feature, but to have him back in the fold it a major plus.
However, it’s unlikely that Dimitri Payet will feature. Struggling with a knock suffered against Chelsea, Payet has been out of action for a couple weeks now but is nearing a first-team return.
Havard Nordtveit is unlikely to feature after picking up an injury against Astra Giurgiu on Thursday and Bilic stated that the Norwegian could miss today’s game. His absence will likely see Pedro Obiang be given a rare Premier League start.
As we know, Andre Ayew, Aaron Cresswell and Andy Carroll are all definitely ruled out, while Sofiane Feghouli is close to a return from a hamstring injury.
There is no timetable for a return for Diafra Sakho and Doneil Henry who are both out with back and knee injuries respectively.
With this in mind, here’s a last look at our predicted West Ham XI and bench for today’s game.
GK: Adrian
Buoyed by his maiden Spain call-up this week, Adrian will look to continue his fine form with an impressive display against City.
RB: Sam Byram
Byram seems to be improving with every game he plays as he grows in confidence. Who says we needed a right-back anyway!
CB: Winston Reud
On form, Reid can be our best defender and he’s got a point to prove against City.
CB: Angelo Ogbonna
Bilic reinstated his first-choice centre-back partnership for the Astra game and while we didn’t get the result we wanted, this is his preferred partnership.
LB: Arthur Masuaku
Masuaku has impressed since joining the club, carrying the load of the injured Aaron Cresswell.
CM: Mark Noble
How we could’ve done with his experience and passion on Thursday…
CM: Cheikhou Kouyate
Kouyate’s energy and range is needed against City as they will have a lot of possession, it’ll be a hard afternoon.
CM: Pedro Obiang
Bilic confirms Nordtveit will not be fit enough to play City so Obiang gets a rare Premier League start. We’ll need to box out the midfield.
RW: Michail Antonio
He’s looked much better back on the wing, hopefully Antonio can cause the City defence more problems than he did against Astra.
LW: Gokhan Tore
With Lanzini and Payet nearing full-fitness, Tore is running out of opportunities to make a starting place his own.
ST: Jonathan Calleri
He missed his big chance on Thursday, but Calleri is getting in the right positions and has show great movement and build up play before the final finish. Hes our best option given the injuries.
SUB: Darren Randolph
Will have to settled for cup games from now on.
SUB: James Collins
The emergency centre-forward.
SUB: Reece Burke
One of few players who came away from Thursday in a positive light. He showed he can play a variety of positions and will be useful for us.
SUB: Edimilson Fernandes
Our newest signing, Fernandes will settle for a spot on the bench in his first outing for the Hammers.
SUB: Manuel Lanzini
He is fit and he has travelled with the squad. Won’t start but could impact off the bench.
SUB: Dimitri Payet
Same can be said for Payet, we need him so bad.
SUB: Ashley Fletcher
A much, much, much better option than that fraud Enner Valencia.