West Ham United gear up for an acid test against Manchester City.
West Ham XI: Hart; Zabaleta, Fonte, Ogbonna, Masaku; Noble, Obiang, Fernandes, Arnautovic, Ayew, Martinez
West Ham United face Manchester City in Iceland this afternoon for what will be something of an acid test to gauge how the Irons may fare in the Premier League this season.
It is only a friendly, but a friendly against one of England’s best teams and it will be interesting to see how Slaven Bilic’s side get on.
West Ham kick off their Premier League season in eight days with a tricky trip to Manchester United and this offers Bilic a chance to experiment ahead of that visit to Old Trafford.
Like big-spending City, the East Londoners have had a very decent summer transfer window so far, spending £40 million on Javier Hernandez and Marko Arnautovic – who was a club-record signing at £24 million – while Joe Hart and Pablo Zabaleta have also joined.
Unfortunately for West Ham fans, all four aren’t included in Bilic’s first XI as Zabaleta and Hart – on loan at United from Man City – gear up for a reunion of sorts.
But although Arnautovic is in the first XI, Hernandez has to settle for a spot on the bench as Andre Ayew spearheads the attack.
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