West Ham United will travel to the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night to take on Manchester City, hoping to put up an intense fight. The Hammers come into the match on the back of a hard-fought 4-3 defeat against Crystal Palace last weekend, so they will have to perform better to come out on top in this away encounter.
David Moyes will probably opt for a 4-2-3-1 formation and is expected to make a few changes to the starting XI for this contest. Said Benrahma should get the nod over Pablo Fornals in the attacking third while Aaron Cresswell replaces Emerson Palmieri in the backline.
4-2-3-1 West Ham United Predicted XI Vs Manchester City
Defence
Lukasz Fabianski will feature in goal for the Hammers after shipping in a couple of goals in his last league outing. Nayef Aguerd will continue to play alongside Kurt Zouma at the centre of West Ham’s backline as they try to keep the opposition attackers from causing too many problems in their defensive half.
Vladimir Coufal will be a nailed-on starter at right-back, while Aaron Cresswell hopes to catch the eye on the other side as the left-back. Moyes will ask both of them to work hard defensively to limit the chances that the Sky Blues will create from the wide areas.
Angelo Ogbonna and Thilo Kehrer will be named on the bench as they offer cover for the defensive positions.
Midfield
Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice will take the holding midfield positions as they try to win the 50-50 battles at the centre of the park and create some decent goal-scoring chances on the counter.
Lucas Paqueta will be the primary playmaker in the advanced attacking midfield position. Said Benrahma will probably get a chance to give a good account of himself on the left flank while Jarrod Bowen looks to put his pace to good use from the right.
Manuel Lanzini and Flynn Downes will be available for selection on the bench as they wait to shine in the second 45 minutes if required.
Attack
Michail Antonio will again lead the line for the East London club in the final third. He must find a way to threaten the opponent’s goal in this midweek encounter.
Gianluca Scamacca will remain sidelined for this game as he recovers from a knee injury. However, Danny Ings will be named on the bench and might come on in the latter stages if needed.
