Friday 31 August 2018

Unsettled Hammers Look to Beat the Odds



West ham have endured a pretty disappointing start to the new era under Manuel Pellegrini. Having lost each of their opening three games they languish at the bottom of the Premiership table. The midweek win against Wimbledon may have provided some light, but given that they trailed for an hour despite having an extra man will not have gone unnoticed as yet more evidence that the new squad is far from firing on all cylinders!

Wolves, meanwhile, enjoyed a morale boosting draw with Man City last weekend and then dispatched the Owls during midweek, using their back up players. If the Hammers lose tomorrow it will equal their worst ever start to a season - the other coming under Avram Grant's doomed tenure. No pressure then!

However, in better news, Marko Arnautovic and Mark Noble are available. In reality, when 2 of your first 3 games are away at Enfield and the Emirates it is not a total disaster to come away with little to show, but Pellegrini's men really need a win to kick start their campaign. First up, Pellegrini needs to sort out a stable CB pairing, with tomorrow's selection likely to reveal where his longer term intentions lie. The Hammers boss has been singing the praises of both Masuaku and Cresswell, so selection at left back will also provide an interesting talking point.

But perhaps the biggest question is whether Mark Noble will walk straight back into the starting XI. Carlos Sanchez had a mixed performance against Arsenal, so it looks up for grabs. Javier Hernandez will hope that his goal in midweek might swing a starting berth for him, while Andriy Yarmolenko had a lot of the ball with modest impact against the Wombles. In truth, there is considerable uncertainty regarding most of the side with plenty of positions up for grabs.

Interestingly, BETWAY have the Hammers at 8/5 for a win, which seem like generous odds. Rory Nostradamus at VERYWESTHAM predicts a 3-1 win for the Hammers.

COYI!!!




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