West Ham vs Birmingham
FA Cup 2018-19
Venue: London Stadium
Date: Saturday, 5 January
Kick-off: 12:30pm GMT
West Ham will get their FA Cup campaign up and running in front of a bumper crowd at London Stadium when they host Birmingham on Saturday.
The Championship side, thriving in tight circumstances under Garry Monk and formerly owned by Hammers chiefs David Sullivan and David Gold, will be greeted by more than 52,000 in east London in the early kick-off.
With Manuel Pellegrini and his side comfortably looking up in the Premier League, a Cup run would go down a treat in Stratford. West Ham have not been further than the quarter finals for over a decade.
Team news
Samir Nasri is set to make his West Ham debut against Birmingham in the FA Cup after joining on a free transfer on New Year's Eve.
Andy Carroll should start in attack while youngsters Grady Diangana and Xande Silva will be in contention as manager Manuel Pellegrini rotates his squad.
Javier Hernandez, Winston Reid, Jack Wilshere, Ryan Fredericks, Fabian Balbuena, Manuel Lanzini, Carlos Sanchez and Andriy Yarmolenko are all still missing.
Provisional squad: Adrian, Antonio, Diop, Ogbonna, Masuaku, Rice, Noble, Obiang, Diangana, Carroll, Perez, Fabianski, Zabaleta, Cresswell, Snodgrass, Coventry, Anderson, Silva, Arnautovic.
Score prediction: West Ham 2-1 Birmingham
Hammers' fans will be desperate for a cup run under Manuel Pellegrini whose squad for this competition will be bolstered by a handful of youngsters desperate to impress.
Betting tips via Betfair | UK users only | Subject to change
Match odds
- West Ham win: 1/2
- Birmingham win: 6/1
- Draw: 10/3
First goalscorer odds
- Samir Nasri: 13/2
- Xande Silva: 11/2
- Andy Carroll: 7/2
Click here to find the latest match odds and place a bet
TV channel and live stream online coverage
The match will not be available to watch live in the UK.
But you can follow all the action with Standard Sport's LIVE blog.
Head to head (h2h) history and results
These two sides have met on 94 occasions in the past with West Ham winning 32 of those. Birmingham have the better record however with 40 wins over the years.
The last meeting between these two was a Championship thriller in 2012, finishing 3-3 at Upton Park.
