Moyes show his hand with six changes

So now we know – David Moyes has his eyes almost totally on winning the Europa League having made six changes to the team which drew with Burnley  at Stamford Bridge today.

Declan Rice is on the bench with Mikey Antonio. Jarrod Bowen and Manu Lanzini and it really is a case of fingers crossed as we head into this afternoon’s game which was probably seen as a bonus affair anyway

Moyes could hardly have made  a greater statement of intent and one with which it’s difficult to argue given the importance of Thursday night.

The manager has named five defenders in his side to face Chelsea reintroducing Vladimír Coufal and Arthur Masuaku into his team alongside Ben Johnson, Craig Dawson and Aaron Cresswell, who all retain their places from last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Burnley.

Club captain Mark Noble comes into midfield to support Tomáš Souček, while the returning Pablo Fornals, Saïd Benrahma and Andriy Yarmolenko – scorer of a memorable winning goal against the Blues two seasons ago – all start at Stamford Bridge.

The Irons head to west London having won three of their last five top-flight outings against Chelsea, and in the hope of completing a double over the Blues to bolster their hopes of securing direct European qualification via the league table.

As well as Rice, Bowen, Lanzini, Vlašić and Antonio on the bench, manager Moyes can call upon goalkeeper Alphonse Areola; defenders Ryan Fredericks and Aji Alese; and midfielder Alex Král.

West Ham United: Fabiański, Coufal, Johnson, Dawson, Cresswell, Masuaku, Noble ©, Souček, Benrahma, Fornals, Yarmolenko
Subs: Areola (GK), Fredericks, Alese, Rice, Král, Vlašić, Lanzini, Bowen, Antonio

Chelsea: Mandy, Azpilicueta (c), Christensen, Silva, Alonso, Kanté, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek, Mount, Havertz, Werner
Subs: Arrizabalaga (GK), Sarr, Chalobah, Ñíguez, Kenedy, Barkley, Ziyech, Pulisic, Lukaku

Referee: Michael Oliver