On Thursday, West Ham United and AZ Alkmaar will battle it out in the first leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final tie. While West Ham is struggling in 15th place in the Premier League even though they secured a 1-0 victory over Manchester United, AZ is doing comparatively better, sitting in fourth position in the Eredivisie, only two points behind Ajax.
David Moyes will probably opt for a 4-2-3-1 formation and is expected to make a single change to the starting lineup for this European contest. Alphonse Areola would get the nod over Lukasz Fabianski to operate in between the sticks while the rest of the squad keep their places.
4-2-3-1 West Ham United Predicted XI Vs AZ Alkmaar
Defence
As mentioned above, Areola will feature in goal for the Hammers looking to keep a clean sheet. Nayef Aguerd will continue to play alongside Angelo Ogbonna 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.
Thilo Kehrer will operate as the 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 stop the opposition from creating chances out of the wide areas.
Ben Johnson and Vladimir Coufal are unavailable for selection against ten hag’s side as they suffer from injuries.
Midfield
Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice will take the holding midfield positions as they try to win possession 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
In the final third, Michail Antonio will again lead the line for the East London club. In this weekend’s encounter, he must find a way to threaten the opponent’s goal.
Danny Ings will be named on the bench and might come on in the latter stages if needed.
