Following their midweek success in the Carabao Cup, West Ham return to Premier League action on Saturday when they welcome Sheffield United at the London Stadium.
The Hammers overcame Lincoln City 1-0 to book a spot in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, thanks to a second-half goal from Tomas Soucek. Prior to the cup fixture, David Moyes’ side suffered back-to-back 3-1 defeats in their last two league outings against Manchester City and Liverpool respectively. This has seen them slip to seventh in the league standings.
Thus, Moyes and Co. will be desperate to return back to winning ways in the Premier League against Sheffield United, who sit rooted to the bottom of the table and suffered obliteration at the hands of Newcastle United last weekend, which marked their heaviest home defeat ever in league football.
West Ham Team News
Aaron Cresswell was substituted at half-time in West Ham’s Europa League win over Backa Topola last week, due to a hamstring problem, and he has since missed out in the matches away to Liverpool and Lincoln City.
Apart from Cresswell, David Moyes has a fully fit squad available at his disposal. The Scot can be expected to reverse most if not all of the 10 changes he made for the cup trip to League One side Lincoln City in midweek.
Predicted West Ham lineup vs Sheffield United (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper
Alphonse Areola will return in goal, having enjoyed a night off in midweek with Lukasz Fabianski deputising against Lincoln. The Frenchman will be aiming to keep a clean sheet after conceding six goals across the last two league games.
Defence
Well-rested Kurt Zouma should marshal West Ham’s troops from the back against the Blades. The Hammers’ skipper will partner Nayef Aguerd, who was an unused substitute in midweek, in central defence.
Full-backs Vladimir Coufal and Emerson Palmieri should be expected to bomb up and down the flanks, hoping to pin back Sheffield United’s wing-backs as much as possible at the London Stadium.
Midfield
James Ward-Prowse has quickly become indispensable to Moyes’ side. He will look to take control of the game as early as possible and create opportunities for the forwards in the final third. The England international is expected to partner Edson Alvarez in the double pivot in the Hammers’ midfield.
Lucas Paqueta is the creative glue of the side, with the majority of West Ham’s attacks going through him. Due to his incisive passing and vision, the Brazilian will be a threat all day long for the Blades’ defence.
Attack
Said Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen will be deployed as the wingers here. Quick, creative and dynamic, the duo will pose a threat for the visitors on the counter-attacks. They will look to create opportunities for Michail Antonio, who should be tasked with leading the West Ham attack.
Danny Ings, Pablo Fornals and Mohammed Kudus could get opportunities to make a difference in the second half of the game against Paul Heckingbottom’s lowly side.
