West Ham United kick off their Premier League season this weekend as they head up to take on Newcastle United at St James’ Park.
The Hammers have qualified for the Europa League group stage, but enter the season under something of a cloud.
David Moyes’ men have struggled to bring in new signings this summer, and Jesse Lingard’s loan spell is over.
Moyes has plenty of decisions to think about ahead of today’s game, and here’s our predicted lineup for the clash with Newcastle…
One of the biggest choices facing Moyes is in goal, having brought in Alphonse Areola on loan from Paris Saint-Germain.
For now though, we’re backing Moyes to keep faith with Lukasz Fabianski between the sticks today.
Angelo Ogbonna looks likely to miss out through injury, meaning Craig Dawson and Issa Diop are likely to start at centre back.
Vladimir Coufal and Aaron Cresswell were superb going forward last season, and look likely to start in the full back roles.
Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice should feature in central midfield, with no real challengers for their roles.
With no Lingard in the side and Manuel Lanzini injured, we could see Pablo Fornals as a number 10.
That would allow Jarrod Bowen and Said Benrahma to start on the flanks, supporting Michail Antonio in the West Ham attack.
Moyes doesn’t have a ton of options to go with on the bench, but the likes of Areola, Ryan Fredericks, Mark Noble, Andriy Yarmolenko, Conor Coventry and Armstrong Okoflex figure to be among the substitutes today, with youngsters surely in contention too.
West Ham predicted lineup: Fabianski; Coufal, Dawson, Diop, Cresswell; Soucek, Rice; Bowen, Fornals, Benrahma; Antonio.
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