West Ham are in great form ahead of their Premier League match with West Brom on Tuesday evening. The Hammers are unbeaten in six matches across all competitions and have kept four consecutive clean sheets ahead of the clash.
David Moyes confirmed on Monday afternoon Michail Antonio is not yet back to full fitness but that he is vital to the team. Antonio will need his minutes managed following his recent injury issues, but we expect him to start against the Baggies.
Manuel Lanzini will be pushing for a recall, but for now, we believe he will once again be named as a substitute.
The XI we are picking is what we consider to be West Ham's strongest team. The Hammers began their run of seven games in 21 days on Saturday with a solid if unspectacular 1-0 win against Burnley and will be aiming to pick up another three points on Tuesday evening.
Here is how we think the Hammers will line up at the London Stadium:
Fabianski; Coufal, Ogbonna, Dawson, Cresswell; Rice, Souček; Bowen, Fornals, Benrahama; Antonio
The back-four against the Clarets were excellent and will once again line-up to protect Fabianski behind them.
The Rice, Souček axis is pivotal in everything West Ham do. The duo protects the defence, provide possession to the more creative players and offer a threat from set-pieces.
The only player with a question mark ahead of this game is striker Michail Antonio. If he was fully match-fit then his selection would be an automatic one.
However, such is his importance to the team if there is any doubt about his hamstrings then it is not a risk worth taking, particularly as the club seem no nearer to signing a replacement for Sebastien Haller.
The young Mipo Odubeko could make his league debut from the bench as could new signing Alves, but a league start seems some way off for both.
Pablo Fornals provided the assist for the only goal of the game on Saturday and put in an all-round solid performance. We fully expect him to retain his position on the left of midfield.
Jarrod Bowen and Said Benrahma will join Fornals behind Antonio. The Algerian provided some wonderful defence splitting passes on Saturday and Moyes will be hoping to see that again from his playmaker.
Benrahma, however, may be at risk of losing his spot. When asked about his substitution on Saturday Moyes said: "Sometimes the manager might not think he is playing that well."
Moyes added, "There are standards I want to set and he is learning the ropes in the Premier League. He is still very young as a Premier League player and still has a lot to prove."
Bowen ran hard, as he always does, but his final pass and finishing let him down if he can improve these aspects of his game he will add that extra threat West Ham have been missing.
Lanzini and Yarmolenko both came off the bench against Burnley, but neither made much of a difference and we would be surprised to see them make the starting XI vs the Baggies.
Issa Diop was ready to come on against Burnley, however, the final whistle stopped him making his first appearance in some time following injury but a start is not on the cards for the French defender.
