West Ham United begin their 2019-20 pre-season tour with a match against Austrian football club Altach on 11 July 2019.
The Hammers are currently in Switzerland for their pre-season training and will have their first match on Thursday. Pellegrini’s side finished 10th in last season’s Premier League and will hope to go further up the table this year.
West Ham will miss out on a few players in their match against Altach as they are currently on a break after playing for their respective national teams, which includes new Spanish signing Pablo Fornals, Arthur Masuaku and Fabian Balbuena.
Let’s take a look at the players who could feature in the Hammers’ first XI.
Goalkeeper
Pellegrini has several options in the goalkeeper position. Last year’s No. 1 Lukasz Fabianski may not start the match as he only joined the squad on Sunday. But the Hammers have two other experienced goalkeepers, both of whom joined the club this season – Roberto and David Martin. One of these two could start the game, while another could replace him in the second half.
Defence
We could see Issa Diop continue at centre-back for the first pre-season game, and he will most likely be joined by Angelo Ogbonna in defence, while Winston Reid – who was out for the entire 2018-19 season and Reece Oxford, could also get a chance.
At right-back, Ryan Fredericks will most likely start, who had an impressive 2018-19 season, while experienced right-back Pablo Zabaleta is an option from the bench.
With Arthur Masuaku missing, Pellegrini will have to call upon Aaron Cresswell at left-back.
Midfield
The Hammers young star of the 2018-19 season, Declan Rice, may be given a rest by Pellegrini after his exploits with the England U21 side, which means that Carlos Sanchez, who missed almost the entire 2018-19 season due to knee injury could start, alongside Mark Noble and Robert Snodgrass or Jack Wilshere.
The Hammers have several options in the midfield area, including Josh Cullen, Manuel Lanzini and Pedro Obiang, as well as youngsters Joe Powell and Marcus Browne.
Attack
The attack will mostly see Felipe Anderson and Andriy Yarmolenko as the wide players, the latter who missed the second half of the season through injury. Michail Antonio and Grady Diangana are the other options out wide for Pellegrini.
Pellegrini, though, doesn’t have too many options up top and will have to choose Javier Hernandez, who is the only recognised first-team striker for the Hammers, while Jordan Hugill could come off the bench in the second half.
