West Ham United will clash heads with Cardiff City at the Cardiff City Stadium hoping to build on their 2-0 win over Newcastle United last weekend. The Hammers are in no real danger of relegation and will fancy their chances against the Bluebirds if they do not get complacent.
Manuel Pellegrini will choose to go with the 4-1-4-1 formation and might name Arthur Masuaku in his first-team on Saturday afternoon.
4-1-4-1 West Ham United Predicted Lineup To Face Cardiff City
Defence
Łukasz Fabiański will lineup as the goalie for the away team on Saturday after he kept a clean sheet at home versus the Magpies last weekend. The Polish shot-stopper will be shielded by the centre-back duo of Angelo Ogbonna and Issa Diop. Fabian Balbuena is a significant doubt and might not be able to recover in time for this match.
Ryan Fredericks put in a decent shift versus the Magpies earlier this month, so he should keep his place at right-back. Arthur Masuaku could feature ahead of Aaron Cresswell at the left-back position this weekend.
The Hammers defenders will need to be at their best if they are to secure a shut-out at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Midfield
Manuel Pellegrini will opt for Declan Rice to play in a defensive midfield role while the pair of Mark Noble and Manuel Lanzini operates ahead of him while trying to create some opportunities going forward.
Felipe Anderson is expected to feature on the left flank as he looks to drift in and cause a few problems for the Cardiff defenders.
Andriy Yamolenko is still out of action with an injury so Robert Snodgrass will look to impress on the right side of the West Ham midfield.
Anderson has arguably been West Ham’s player of the season so far, but he has not scored or assisted too many goals of late. Hence, it’s high time for him to start being more productive in the opposition half.
Attack
Javier Hernandez will spearhead Pellegrini’s attack once again this weekend. The Mexican striker has scored some crucial goals for the Hammers this season. He will be expected to get his name on the scoresheet on Saturday.
Both Marko Arnautovic and Andy Carroll could be available on the bench for this league encounter in Wales.
