The announcement that the London Stadium capacity increase to 62,500 will jump West Ham above Arsenal into third place but will still be less than Spurs new stadium.

Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium has 60,704 seats with 60,260 permitted for use on match days which is just above that of the London Stadium current capacity.

Arsenal’s average attendance is 58,729 compared to Hammers 59,736 meaning more tickets are sold for each game despite the London rivals having more seats.

Spurs new stadium opened with a capacity of 62,303 but last year Haringey Council approved planning permission to increase to 62,850.

Tottenham confirmed at the time it was the final application for a non-material amendment seeking an increase to the seating capacity of the stadium, according to Haringey Council documents.

Despite having 62,850 seats the average attendance at Spurs is just 57,967 some 1,769 less tickets sold per match on average despite having 2,850 more seats to sell.

Manchester United have the largest capacity in the Premier League with 74,789 seats and an average official attendance of 72,732.

With a 99.6% average official attendance, West Ham leads the Premier League in tickets sold for each league game by some margin.

With the change to the London Stadium North and South stands last year there are now almost 67,000 seats available to allow future expansion.

The London stadium West stand reconfiguration is out for a £14.5m tender and the straightening of that stand could add more seats to get to the 70,000 seat mark soon.

West Ham may well be a decent bet to beat Manchester City this evening!

The stadium is sold out and Pep Guardiola has declared that he will be playing his youngsters in the Carabao  fourth round tie.

That surely gives the well in form Irons a good chance of beating the club that has monopolised the competition over recent seasons.

I don’t usually bet on the Irons because I never fancy the idea of losing the match and my dough but tonight I just might.

How Moysie will play it in selection terms is fascinating given we are a club that really does need to win something but with games against Aston Villa on Sunday and Genk on Thursday followed by Liverpool the following Sunday his problem is very obvious.

Kurt Zouma is celebrating his 27th birthday today and could well get the call and I would expect Ben Johnson to again be involved.

He has received a glowing tribute from Kurt who declared: “He’s a great young player, he’s got a lot of quality and he’s going to be here for ages, hopefully. He deserves to be playing week-in, week-out because he’s a good player, but the team around Ben is also playing very well at the minute.

“I didn’t know Ben before I arrived here but, as soon as I saw him, I saw he has quality.”

My likely team: Areola; Johnson, Zouma, Dawson, Cresswell; Rice, Soucek, Lanzini, Yarmolenko, Fornals. Bowen

West Ham have this morning confirmed that planning permission has been granted to increase the matchday capacity at London Stadium to 62,500.

The extra 2,500 seats to be released once the safety certificate application has been completed, West Ham say they will be able to once again look forward to breaking the Club’s attendance record and welcoming more of our loyal supporters to Hammers matches.

The expansion is another positive step forward for the Club in ultimately reaching the stadium’s full capacity – now close to 67,000 due to the enhancements to the Bobby Moore and Sir Trevor Brooking stands – which would see West Ham United’s home in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park become the biggest Premier League stadium in London.

West Ham United Vice-Chairman Baroness Brady said: “The application to increase the matchday capacity will give an even greater number of our fans the opportunity to watch our exciting team in action in person. Since the regular return of supporters this year, we have seen a terrific response with every Premier League fixture so far this season sold out, and we thank them for their continued fantastic backing including breaking attendance records as part of regular capacity crowds at London Stadium. This is another great sign of progression during a hugely-positive time for the Club.”

Manager David Moyes added: “Everyone here is doing everything we can to grow and develop this football club, on and off the pitch, for the benefit of our supporters, and we all feel that things are moving in the right direction. The supporters being back has been fantastic and the atmosphere they have created, with 60,000 in the stadium, has been right up there every game. Having more fans in here cheering the team on will make it even better for us all and we are really looking forward to welcoming more of our young supporters and families to London Stadium.”

West Ham take on Manchester City tonight at in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup

The Hammers play at London Stadium for the third time in eight days and are seeking to complete a hat-trick of victories in three different competitions, having defeated KRC Genk 3-0 in UEFA Europa League Group H and Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in the Premier League.

Here’s everything you need to know.

Title

West Ham United v  Manchester City

Where?

KO

The game will kick off at 7.45pm in the UK.

Stream/TV

The game will not air on TV in the UK and Ireland.

The match will be aired elsewhere in the world with a full list HERE and will be available on Internet streams

Injury news – West Ham

Vladimir Coufal is still battling a groin injury and is unlikely to feature. Alex Kral has only just completed ten days of self isolation after testing positive for COVID following international duty. Ryan Fredericks faces a late fitness test for his inclusion this evening.

Injury news – City

Ferran Torres and Liam Delap are out for City, while Raheem Sterling missed the weekend win but could make this match. Nathan Ake, Gabriel Jesus and Fernandinho are among the players who have been in and out of the side who will hope to feature this evening. Benjamin Mendy is suspended from the squad.

Carabao Cup rules

Following a change to the rules for the Carabao Cup, each club can name nine substitutes for our fourth-round tie with Manchester City, of which five can be used.

Clubs have three occasions during open play to make substitutions (excluding half-time), and multiple substitutions can be made during each occasion.

Each Club shall also be permitted to utilise up to two ‘concussion substitutes’ and/or two ‘additional substitutes’ (as appropriate) from those substitutes listed on the team sheet.

If the scores are level after 90 minutes, then the match will immediately be decided on penalties. No extra-time will be played.

VAR is not in operation.

Previous meetings

West Ham United have been drawn to face Manchester City for just the third time in the competition’s 62-year history. The Citizens have prevailed on each of the previous two occasions.

The first was in the third round in the 1984/85 season. The teams battled to a goalless draw at Maine Road before City triumphed 2-1 in a replay at the Boleyn Ground, with Steve Whitton on target for John Lyall’s side.

The second was the forgettable semi-final of 2013/14, when Sam Allardyce’s Hammers were thrashed 9-0 on aggregate by Manuel Pellegrini’s City, who would go on to beat Sunderland 3-1 in the final.

Match Officials

Referee: Jonathan Moss
Assistant Referees: Marc Perry & Timothy Wood
Fourth Official: Kelvin Morton

According to reports, West Ham has joined Arsenal is showing interest for young forward Noa Lang who plays for Club Brugge after sending scouts to watch him.

The Dutch number 10 is said to be valued at  €40M (£33.7m) by his club.

The 22-year-old only joined the Belgian side on a permanent transfer during the summer window, after impressing during a loan stint from Ajax last season.

Lang can play either as a striker or a winger so would provide some versatility to West Ham.

Arsenal is reported to have decided to make a £25 million bid to beat other European Clubs to sign Lang.

Last season,  he scored 17 goals and provided 11 assists in 38 games for Club Brugge.

The player has since made 13 appearances this term, kicking off the campaign with 4 goals and 4 assists.

Liverpool, Leeds and AC Milan were linked with the star over the summer.

Italian transfer guru Nicola Schira posted on social media “Arsenal and West Ham have shown interest for Noa Lang (born in 1999). Bruges ask €40M to sell the player”

Both London clubs could make their move in the January transfer window.

There was no pre-match press conference from David Moyes for tonight’s game as the regulations for the Carabo Cup don’t require one.

Vladimir Coufal is unlikely to be available for selection this evening as he recovers from a groin strain he suffered last month in the last round of the EFL cup against Manchester United at Old Trafford. He has been receiving injections for discomfort.

Last week Moyes said “Vladimir has taken an injection he had a bit of discomfort in his pubis. He got the injury in the Man United cup game and he has been carrying it for a few weeks.”

It is hoped that Ryan Fredericks has regained his match fitness to be available for selection, he came on as a 67th-minute substitute in the Europa game against Genk on Thursday but was excluded from Sunday’s squad against Spurs as the manager thought he lacked pace and was not fully match fit yet.

Alex Kral is also a doubt after testing positive for COVID after international duty for Croatia. The manager confirmed Kral has been vaccinated so said it was strange that the player came back with a positive test result.

After the Everton game, Moyes said “Alex Kral tested positive (for Covid-19) but has been injected (with the vaccine) he’s had his injection,so it was a strange one for us that he tested positive on Thursday.”

Kral tested positive on Thursday 14th October which means he should now out of his 10-day self-isolation assuming he has now returned a negative test result.

On social media, the Hammer confirmed he was keeping up his fitness at home on an exercise but could be deemed not match fit enough for tonight’s game.

Lukasz Fabianski has confirmed a Claret and Hugh story that he will be offered a contract extension.

Two days ago Claret and Hugh exclusively revealed that Fab was set to be offered a new 12-month extension.

“From what I know, there have been some initial discussions already taking place,” Fab told Meczyki. “I hope that we will come to a good solution for both sides. I do not see any reasons for it to be otherwise, since the club and I are happy with this cooperation.”

“It’s not just West Ham’s policy that footballers of a certain age extend from season to season. This is actually a logical solution for many reasons,” he added.

“Of course, the most important thing in all this is health and sports level. If I can manage these aspects, I see no problem in extending the contract.”

When asked how long he intends to play Fab replied: “I will judge step by step, but looking at Artur Boruc or many other goalkeepers, you can successfully play up to 40. I think I can continue until around that number.”

The West Ham shot-stopper signed a 12-month extension last season and looks on the verge to do the same again.

A West Ham Academy ‘Under-21s’ won tonight in the Papa John Trophy group fixture.

The EFL Trophy criteria for Academy sides says at least six of the starting eleven players named on the Team Sheet are players who were aged under 21 as at the 30th June in the year in which the Season concerned commenced; and no more than two players who are aged 21 or over; and have made 40 or more appearances in a First Team Fixture (either in the starting eleven or as a playing substitute) in each case as at the 30th June in the year in which the Season concerned, shall be named on the Team Sheet.

The Hammers faced Gillingham in the Papa John’s Trophy in Group A, Southern Section

Full Time: Gillingham 0 West Ham 2

West Ham have launched a new Premium ticket category for the visit of Liverpool to the London Stadium.

The Liverpool game was originally categorised as an A-game but it has been changed to a double AA as demand starts to outstrip supply for tickets.

Category A prices for adult tickets start at £55 for band 5 with a 1966 ticket costing £80

Band 2 & 3 adult tickets are £65 while a Band 2 seat is £70 with U16 and accessibility prices from £55 to £80

For the Liverpool game general admission, adult ticket prices start at £65 for a band 5 seat to £95 for a 1966 ticket.

Band 2 & 3 adult tickets are £75 while a band 2 is £80  U16 and accessibility prices range from £45 to £95 per seat.

West Ham have increased the number of general admission tickets to 8,300 this season to help break a new club ticket revenue record.

Despite the price rises the match is sure to sell out as supporters flock to watch the Hammers in terrific Premier League form.