West Ham United will look to bounce back from their ignominious defeat against Wimbledon in the FA Cup when they take on Wolves away from home.
The Hammers have been the definition of the word inconsistent so far this season and having beaten Arsenal a couple of weeks ago, they have suffered back to back defeats as they just haven’t been able to replicate their good form.
Wolves and Hammers are separated by just a point, and the two teams are vying for the seventh spot in the league table as sixth seems too much right now.
Unlike Wolves, though, West Ham have a quite a few players on the treatment table which is one of the reasons why they haven’t been able to perform consistently under Pellegrini despite showing a lot of promise at times.
Marko Arnautovic has signed a new contract, surprisingly, and is likely to return to action once again. His addition will be a huge boost as the Austrian is technically superior to any other Hammers forward at the moment.
Lucas Perez is unlikely to feature, after picking up an injury this past weekend. West Ham have just seven other injuries, which includes Fabian Balbuena.
Defence
In Balbuena’s absence, we expect Angelo Ogbonna to line up alongside Issa Diop. Ogbonna hasn’t inspired confidence at the back, and needs to up his game in the coming weeks.
Aaron Cresswell and Pablo Zabaleta should start as the full-backs and they might have their hands full with the way Wolves use the wide areas of the pitch.
Adrian is expected to make way for Lukasz Fabianski in goal after receiving a bit of cup action during the weekend.
Midfield
With limited options available, Pellegrini is expected to go with the duo of Mark Noble and Declan Rice in the midfield pivot.
The two will provide Samir Nasri with the freedom to play in the attacking midfield role. The former Manchester City star looked good against Arsenal and the fans will hope that he gets even better with more minutes on the pitch.
Attack
Felipe Anderson and Robert Snodgrass are expected to play on the wide areas. Arnautovic will look to leave a mark when he leads the line.
Arnautovic
Anderson – Nasri – Snodgrass
Noble – Rice
Cresswell – Ogbonna – Diop – Zabaleta
Fabianski
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