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Football London
Football London
Sport
Tom Clark

Coufal to start, Cresswell decision - West Ham predicted XI vs Genk in Europa League

West Ham manager David Moyes is expected to make a number of changes to his team for the clash with Genk on Thursday evening in Belgium.

The Hammers go into the match top of Group H after taking nine points from their opening three matches in Europe and can seal progress with a win against Genk.

The big decision for Moyes is whether to hand Vladimir Coufal a start after his recent injury ahead of the in-form Ben Johnson.

West Ham have little in the way of injury concerns and Moyes is set to pick a rotated team with the Premier League match against Liverpool on Sunday in mind.

Alex Kral is back available for selection following his return to training after his positive Covid-19 test and Ryan Fredericks is in contention after recovering from a knee injury.

Club captain Mark Noble is expected to come into the team in midfield with Kral his most likely partner should Moyes wish to rest Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice.

Alphonse Areola is set to continue in goal in Europe with Lukasz Fabianski the Premier League No.1. Ahead of the goalkeeper Issa Diop and Craig Dawson are expected to replace first-team regulars Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma for this evening's match.

With Coufal in need of game time to regain his match fitness, the Czech international is expected to be handed a start with Johnson dropping out. Fredericks could take regular left-back Aaron Cresswell's spot with the defender due a rest.

In the attacking roles, Moyes is expected to make wholesale changes and name the same quartet that took to the field against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup last week.

This would see Andriy Yarmolenko lead the line with Michail Antonio handed a breather. Jarrod Bowen, Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals are all expected to be named as substitutes with Arthur Masuaku, Manuel Lanzini and Nikola Vlasic to come in.

Predicted West Ham XI - Areola; Coufal, Diop, Dawson, Fredericks; Noble, Kral; Vlasic, Lanzini, Masuaku Yarmolenko

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