West Ham have the luxury of a mostly fit squad – something Graham Potter has not enjoyed since his arrival last month. Still the three absentees but five returning players means he will be able to choose his likely formation of 3-4-2-1 with players to spare. With Mavropanos fit and Todibo ready for the bench – Potter’s own words – it’ll be intriguing to see who he lines up alongside Max Kilman, the ever-present this season. Will it be a repeat of the Coufal – Cresswell experiment? If so, that will be pretty damning for Konstantinos Mavropanos.
In addition, Emerson and Wan Bissaka are likely to be the wing-backs again but Ollie Scarles must be knocking on the door to fight with Emerson for the starting spot. Conundrums all over the pitch with the ‘box’ midfield: The front two are easy with Bowen lining up ahead of Paquetá and Kudus: Two defensive midfielders from Alvarez, Soucek and Soler a tricky call. And we’d guess at Ward-Prowse and Ferguson appearing after about an hour for West Ham’s ‘plan B’ offensive changes. ( That’s changes to the offence, not changes which offend!)
Our best guess as to the likely starting eleven-
Areola : Coufal, Kilman, Cresswell: Wan-Bissaka, Emerson, Alvarez, Soucek: Kudus, Paquetá, Bowen.
Sean – 1-0 West Ham win
Martin 2-1 West Ham win
Gonzo 3-1 West Ham win
Matt 1-1 draw
Remember to check back at 1.45 for the starting XI announcement and again immediately after the final whistle for Gonzo’s player ratings
I’ll run with West Ham 2-0 Brentford
Mavropanos instead of Coufal is the change at centre back. Todibo on the bench he is obviously not fit to start. I see that the West Ham zone have slated Potter for not starting Todibo. They obviously know that he is 100% fit to play 🤔
Westham’s defense looks vulnerable with Cresswell and Coufal either side of Killman , however Brentford are having a bad run with injuries and results . Westham will probably need 3 goals or more to secure a win . Only having 3 CB’s at the start of the season was always going to be a problem given that CB’s always get injuries .
No Todibo then?