West Ham kick off their 2020/21 Premier League campaign with a home game against Newcastle United on September 12 as David Moyes gets to start a season as Hammers manager for the first time.
Moyes will oversee just one more pre-season friendly before the top flight gets underway and that arrives this weekend when he sends a team out to face Bournemouth in the Betway Cup at London Stadium on Saturday.
Three of his players haven’t featured in pre-season yet due to injury: Declan Rice, Issa Diop and Robert Snodgrass.
Rice however has been called up to the England squad for their UEFA Nations League matches against Iceland in Reykjavik on Saturday and a trip to Denmark next Tuesday. Football.London understands the Hammers are furious with Rice’s call-up as he is a doubt for the opening match of the Premier League season.
He has been training with the Three Lions and is likely to be fit for this weekends games, meaning he is less of a doubt to face Newcastle on Saturday week.
Moyes will certainly be hoping Rice doesn’t aggravate the injury that has kept him out of pre-season so far as he has no real cover in the midfielder’s position, with Carlos Sanchez having been released earlier this summer at the end of his contract.
Snodgrass and Diop are both doubts for the opening game as both are struggling to feature in the final friendly of the summer this weekend and will certainly be lacking match practice if they were even close to being fit enough to return. Ironically, Rice and Diop were the two Hammers players who played the most minutes of anyone in the squad last season.
Heading into the Newcastle game, here is the latest injury news in east London and some potential return dates.
Declan Rice
Type of injury: Ankle
Date of injury: Unknown
Potential return date: September 12
Issa Diop
Type of injury: Calf
Date of injury: Unknown
Potential return date: September 20
Robert Snodgrass
Type of injury: Back
Date of injury: May 2020
Potential return date: No return date
