Town are back in Premier League action against West Ham, after beating Bolton in the FA Cup last weekend. The game at the John Smith’s Stadium is a chance to put right the 2-0 defeat to West Ham at the London Stadium earlier in the season.
This is a game that could easily shape the direction of the rest of Town’s season. A win will help us cement our position in mid-table, a defeat will put us closer to the relegation spots with some tough games coming up.
West Ham are a team that have underperformed this season and are below Town in the league. However, they’ve got good individual players and will be tough opponents. David Moyes isn’t rated as a manager anymore, but he’s built his career on putting together well-organised teams that are hard to break down.
Who will play for Town in the West Ham match?
Last weekend at Bolton was a chance for David Wagner to rest his key players. The Christmas period was hectic and our best players were clearly tired by the time the Leicester game came around on New Year’s Day. This weekend Wagner should be able to pick his strongest team.
Lössl will come back in goals. Zanka and Schindler are likely to resume their partnership in central defence.
I’m not sure what will happen with the fullbacks. Smith and Hadergjonaj are equal in my eyes, so I’d be happy with either. Flo is the quicker of the two, so I think he might be preferred. Löwe’s injured, so Malone or Kongolo will play on the left. I get the feeling Wagner isn’t that impressed with Malone, but Kongolo is still getting up to full fitness so Malone may get the nod.
Pritchard only signed on Friday, so it’s a bit soon to throw him straight into the team. On the other hand, we’ve been missing a quality number 10 all season, so I hope he’ll get a chance. That would give Ince the chance to play wide on the right, which is his best position.
Depoitre will hopefully lead the line against West Ham. Mounié isn’t in the best of form, so the big Belgian is our most dangerous striker right now.
David Wagner’s pre-match comments
Wagner pointed out that the away game against West Ham was one of Town’s worst performances this season. This game is a chance to show how we’ve improved over recent months and put the defeat behind us.
Opposition info: West Ham United
Like many teams we’ll face in the second-half of the season, West Ham have replaced their manager since our last game. David Moyes took over from Slaven Bilic in November.
The permanently livid Scotsman hasn’t exactly turned the Hammer’s fortunes around since he arrived, but he has made them more solid and picked up a few points.
Last weekend, West Ham fielded a weakened team in the FA Cup and failed to score in a 0-0 draw with Shrewsbury. Their previous Premier League game was a 1-1 draw with Spurs, which was a good result but they had 3 shots to Spurs’ 31, so they had to ride their luck to get their point.
David Moyes is another established Premier League manager that I don’t particularly like. He’s miserable and the style of football his teams play often matches his attitude. While he’s got some great talent available to him at West Ham I expect them to set up fairly defensively and will be hard to break down.
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Player to watch: Manuel Lanzini
Manuel Lanzini is my favourite of West Ham’s players. He’s the kind of player that can produce a moment of magic from nowhere and turn games. He plays behind the main striker and pulls the strings in attack.
He’s the sort of player that improves those around him, so keeping him quiet could be the key to stopping West Ham’s creativity. For this reason, I hope Jonathan Hogg plays and spends the afternoon making life difficult for Lanzini.
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Prediction: Town 1-0 West Ham
This is a huge game for Town and we’ve got a track record of finding something extra when it really matters. Our players will be fresh, the crowd will be up for it, and our new players might add extra quality and depth too.
I don’t think it’ll be an easy game but I think we’ll fight hard and scrape a narrow victory. I’m not great at predicting scorers, but I’ll pick Pritchard to score on his debut.