West Ham United boss Slaven Bilic is set to ring the changes for the visit of Tottenham Hotspur this weekend.
The Hammers entertain Spurs at the London Stadium just four months after beating them 1-0 there to end their bitter rivals’ title hopes.
Manuel Lanzini got the goal that day and he is one of two Hammers stars unavailable through injury, the other being defender James Collins.
A much changed West Ham team comfortably saw off Bolton 3-0 in the Carabao Cup in midweek.
And Bilic looks set to ring the changes again with as many as seven players coming into the team for the big London derby.
West Ham started the season with three straight defeats which left them bottom of the table.
However a switch to three at the back has seen the side improve markedly of late with a 2-0 win over Huddersfield and a hard fought 0-0 draw at West Brom – where West Ham were the better side – lifting them out of the relegation zone.
Bilic will not be taking any risks of spoiling West Ham’s recent turnaround and will likely make as many as nine changes for the early Saturday kick-off.
Joe Hart will resume his role as Bilic’s number one while Winston Reid, Pablo Zabaleta and Aaron Cresswell will come back into the defence.
As yet unconfirmed reports suggest Pedro Obiang may be out for two to three weeks with injury. If he is fit he will come back into midfield, if not Mark Noble will continue in his place.
The front four who started against Bolton of Andre Ayew, Sead Haksabanovic, Marko Arnautovic and Diafra Sakho will make way with Michail Antonio, Javier Hernandez and Andy Carroll coming in.
Arnautovic was instrumental against Bolton but played the full 90 so is likely for to start on the bench as Bilic searches for a way to get the best out of Chicharito and Carroll.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
