West Ham will look to extend their unbeaten run to three matches and move further away from the relegation zone when they host fellow strugglers Hull City at the London Stadium this afternoon.
The Irons slipped into the bottom three before their Sunday afternoon encounter against Liverpool at Anfield last weekend, but Slaven Bilic’s men took a creditable point against the title hopefuls by drawing 2-2, with Dimitri Payet and Michail Antonio on target for the visitors as they climbed back up to 17th.
The Hammers then welcomed a Burnley side that have been majestic at home, but terrible on the road, to the London Stadium on Wednesday night, and they ran out 1-0 winners thanks to Mark Noble’s goal – he scored the rebound after his penalty had been saved by Tom Heaton in the Clarets’ goal.
It was only the east London outfit’s second league win at their new home and they will look to improve that record further this weekend.
Here is FootballFanCast’s West Ham XI to pick up another three points against the Yorkshire outfit…
GK: Darren Randolph
Randolph has become Slaven Bilic’s first-choice goalkeeper in recent weeks, and he is showing no signs of finding himself back on the substitutes’ bench anytime soon.
Despite making an error at Anfield last weekend – the Republic of Ireland international dropped a cross into the path of Divock Origi, who put the ball into the back of the net – he responded with one of the saves of the season to deny Jordan Henderson.
That was followed up with a clean sheet against Burnley in midweek where he made another brilliant stop to deny Scott Arfield from a free-kick.
CB: Cheikhou Kouyate
With James Collins on the sidelines and Alvaro Arbeloa struggling to make an impression under Slaven Bilic, Kouyate has shone as one of the three centre-backs in West Ham’s formation.
The Senegal international missed the trip to Anfield to face Liverpool at the weekend because of suspension, but he was back in the starting XI for the match against Burnley on Wednesday, and after helping the side keep a clean sheet, he should be in the team once again.
CB: Angelo Ogbonna
The Italian endured a busy afternoon at Anfield against the likes of Sadio Mane, Adam Lallana and Roberto Firmino, but he would have been delighted to help the Irons come away with what was a valuable point.
Ogbonna had a little less to do against the Clarets on Wednesday, but now in his second season in England and after keeping a clean sheet, he has shown that he’s adapting to Premier League football well.
CB: Winston Reid
The New Zealand international is West Ham’s leader at the heart of their defence and once again he was a colossus at the back as the club picked up four points in their last two matches – he also won the penalty against Burnley.
Reid – who has shone in the three-man defence – will look to help his side cap off an impressive week with a win against Hull that would move them further away from the relegation zone, relieving the pressure on bother manager and team.
RWB: Michail Antonio
The England international has been playing in a more unfamiliar defensively-minded role this year but he was deployed as a striker against Liverpool, and got himself a goal with a clever finish.
That strike was his seventh Premier League effort of an impressive season but he was back in his wing-back spot for the visit of Burnley, and with Andy Carroll putting in a real influential performance up top, he will be there again when Hull visit the capital.
CM: Mark Noble
The Irons’ captain was the match-winner against Burnley as he scored the rebound after his penalty kick had been well saved by Tom Heaton – his first goal of the Premier League season.
The strike meant that Noble has now scored in each of his last ten campaigns at this level and with this being his first goal since April, the midfielder will look to carry on providing a threat from the middle of the park for a side that has generally struggled to put the ball in the back of the net this term.
CM: Pedro Obiang
Bilic has obviously told his team that they need goals from all over the pitch to relieve the pressure on the likes of Andy Carroll, Dimitri Payet and Michail Antonio, and the Spanish midfielder was close to rewarding his manager against Burnley.
Obiang has become a regular under the Croatian this term and he was inches away from scoring against the Clarets as his long-range strike hit the woodwork – the midfielder will hope to go one step closer against Hull.
LWB: Aaron Cresswell
The left-sided player missed a chunk of this season because of injury and West Ham certainly missed his presence both defensively and offensively during that period.
The former Ipswich ace is especially impressive going forward and gives the Irons a different dimension in attack – he was unlucky not to score against Burnley when Clarets defender Matt Lowton somehow stopped him netting a certain goal, and he will be relishing having Carroll fit and back in the starting XI.
RW: Manuel Lanzini
The forward is West Ham’s joint-second top goalscorer this season with three goals in all competitions, and despite being relatively quiet when it comes to goals or assists in recent weeks, the attacker is still worth having on the pitch.
Lanzini will be looking to provide that creativity and goal threat when a lowly Hull visit the London Stadium, and with the likes of Dimitri Payet and Andy Carroll around him, he will be confident of doing so.
ST: Andy Carroll
West Ham have missed the presence of their target man, who has been ruled out for the majority of the season with injury, and he showed just how influential he can be in the narrow win against Burnley on Wednesday.
Carroll was named as the Man of the Match and he was a constant threat to the Clarets’ defence, winning more than 60% of the 17 aerial duels he encountered, while also offering six efforts at Tom Heaton’s goal.
LW: Dimitri Payet
Even though he has not quite shone the form that he did last season, Payet is still West Ham’s main man in an attacking sense.
The Frenchman showed how he is capable of producing for the team out of nothing when he scored a free-kick in the draw against Liverpool and with Carroll fit and back in the side, the attacking midfielder will hope that the many chances he continues to create will be finished by the big striker.