West Ham are off to a poor start to their new season. The Hammers have won just one of their three Premier League games so far this season and failure in making the group stage of the Europa League added further woes to them. Big things were expected of the East London club this campaign after the brilliant season they had last time out. West Ham made significant reinforcements to their squad this summer but are yet to get their season going.
The Hammers started their season with a 2-1 loss to Chelsea but sealed their first win of the season with a 1-0 win against Bournemouth. Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City eased past the Hammers on matchday 3 with a 3-1 scoreline. There is a silver lining though that both their losses were away from home and against big teams. Watford should not be too much of a problem to the East London club at their new home venue the Olympic Stadium.
The Hornets have gotten off to a poor start under new boss Walter Mazzarri losing two out of their three games after a draw against Southampton on the opening day. Both sides will be desperate for a win as we anticipate an exciting encounter.
Here is the predicted West Ham lineup against Watford.
Defence
Adrian will surely start under the bar ahead of Darren Randolph. Deadline day signing Alvaro Arbeloa is likely to make his West Ham debut in the right-back position. The former Liverpool and Real Madrid full-back should get the nod ahead of Sam Byram and Michail Antonio thanks to his immense experience at the top level. Winston Reid and Angelo Ogbonna are likely to be the centre-back pairing. Even though Reid has a minor knock, he is likely to play through pain. Arthur Masuaku is likely to start in the left-back position.
Midfield
Havard Nordtveit will start in defensive midfield and his job will be to break Watford’s game. Skipper Mark Noble and Cheikhou Kouyate will start as the two box to box midfielders. Kouyate is yet to show his true colours this season but he has to fire against Watford as West Ham badly need his industry to dominate the midfield area.
Attack
Dimitri Payet is yet to start a single Premier League game this season due to lack of fitness and his absence has hurt West Ham badly. The Frenchman should make the starting XI. With Payet on the left flank, in-form Antonio will start on the right flank. New signing Simone Zaza is in line to make his West Ham debut up front.
