Author: Geoff Hopkins

Although we may not dare say it out loud, many of us will be looking at today’s fixture as the footballing equivalent of a ‘gimme’.  A mere formality; a case of going through the necessary motions to pick up the three points – just as when Manchester City visit the London Stadium the weekend after the international break.

Looking at the stats only serves to justify this confidence to ourselves.  Huddersfield have only scored five goals so far this season, of which just the one has been scored in a home game; and even that was an own goal despite it being enough to beat rock bottom Fulham – their first win in fourteen league matches.  Further, the Terriers have not scored more than once in any of their last twenty-one Premier League games.

West Ham, on the other hand, come into the match full of verve and confidence off the back of that barnstorming performance against Burnley.  That win may have been the first in five attempts but there’s no doubt we tell ourselves, that the team have finally turned the corner; the only way is up and all eyes can be firmly focused on seventh place.  That’s right, isn’t it?

There is another voice in our head, however. “Hold on” it is saying “this is West Ham.  Anything can happen.”  We are a team, for sure, with lots of previous in providing charitable handouts to struggling sides and allowing them to end their unwelcome sequences of defeats or goal droughts.  Complacency has always come easy in claret and blue and today’s game could easily be lost in the minds of the players before a ball is kicked.

Whatever Huddersfield may lack in technical ability, they will not be short of effort, passion and energy.  Despite having picked up only four points from six home games this season they have only conceded seven goals in the process.  It has the makings of a very tight game with goals at a premium – although statistically if we score then we shouldn’t lose!

It is going to long, tough season at the John Smith’s Stadium and the Terriers look like they will remain front runners for relegation. Having pulled off a miraculous escape last season, David Wagner will have his work cut out to repeat the trick.  Although Bournemouth are defying the odds with survival on a limited budget, Eddies Howe’s team and style was created over a longer period of time.  Wagner found instant success when he came into his job and it could well be taken away again just as quickly.

As both teams look for rare back to back wins, the West Ham optimism roller coaster has entered a steep climb.  Even suspended skipper, Mark Noble, was reported in the week to be dreaming of a best-of-the-rest seventh place finish.  I sense there are several more twists and turns, ups and downs before the season is over even though I believe the trajectory under Manuel Pellegrini is in a positive direction.  I don’t know what the various super-computers have to say about final league standings but my low tech equivalent (pin and piece of paper) suggests a finish somewhere between ninth and twelfth.

There seems little point discussing the afternoon’s starting line-up as it will be 100% guaranteed the same as last week – assuming no last minute flu epidemics or shower based accidents.  Allegedly, the post international break will witness unheard of selection option overload at the club with the recovery from injury of (big) Andy Carroll and (little) Jack Wilshere – plus the return of Noble, who serves the last of his three match suspension today.

Chris Kavanagh from Lancashire makes the short journey over the Snake Pass as today’s match-day referee.  It is weird that so many of the elite referees are from the north of the country but, then again, if the other southern based refs are as bad as Wiltshire’s Roger East then perhaps that is a good thing.  Kavanagh was previously in charge of the Hammer’s defeat by Wolves.

Paul Merson has again tipped a West Ham win (this time by 2-1) while Lawro is back on his fence at 1-1.  I will be looking for early signs that the team are fired up and are not strolling into the match with an air of apparent superiority.  The fear is a repeat of the Brighton performance where they only start to play in the second half when the damage has already been done.  Intensity and energy levels need to be up from the first whistle.  If Pellegrini can ensure his team are raring to go from the off then I can see a second on-the-road win of the season.  It is Hammers to win 2-0 for me.

Burnley were the surprise team of 2017/18, achieving a seventh placed finish and attracting plenty of praise for gravelly voiced manager Sean Dyche.  Having scaled such heights, however,  and only scoring thirty six in the process (only the three relegated clubs and Huddersfield scored fewer), it was always unlikely that a threat to the Premier League status quo was being built at Turf Moor.  The Dyche philosophy is not a style of play that is going to prosper in the long term; although it might be adequate for pragmatic survival in the footsteps of Allardyce, Pulis and co.

The Clarets still managed to record three goals in two of their thirty eight league matches last season: the first in the season opener away at Chelsea; the second in the infamous day of protests at the London Stadium – a game in which West Ham had controlled the first half but self-destructed in the final half hour.

This season with the added burden of a Europa Cup campaign, where they were eliminated at the Play Off stage, it has been a disappointing start for the visitors who are one of two teams sitting below the Hammers by virtue of goal difference.  Apart from a shock 4-0 win against high riding Bournemouth their performances have been underwhelming and they come into today’s game having conceded nine goals in their last two outings.

West Ham are now without a win in their last four games in all competitions – evidently still basking in the glory (and resting on the laurels) of victory against Manchester United.  With today’s game heralding the start of a winnable streak, Manuel Pellegrini will be desperate to see some added points on the board.  The dilemma is whether his team have enough guile and penetration to break down what will surely be a massed Burnley defence.  If past performance is in any way indicative of future results the omens are not good.

The West Ham lineup for today pretty much picks itself.  Not that the players have performed brilliantly just that there are so few options available due to either quality, injuries or suspensions.  The goalkeeper and the core of the defence are givens and the return of The General, missing in midweek, will be welcome – I am convinced he would have prevented at least two of the Tottenham goals.  The defensive problem area is left back where neither Arthur Masuaku nor Aaron Cresswell are comfortable as a traditional full-back – particular when midfield backup is so flaky.  As Cresswell remains a doubt I would expect Masuaku to get the nod again.  Declan Rice is a certainty to continue his impressive protection of the back four.

In Mark Noble’s absence, Pedro Obiang and Robert Snodgrass will be expected to put in the midfield yards but, while their energy is to be commended, it is a combination that doesn’t shout creativity.

In the advanced roles Marko Arnautovic will be back leading the charge with attacking support provided by Grady Diangana and Felipe Anderson.  Diangana continued to look promising in midweek, in complete contrast to Anderson who looks to be shrouded in a cloak of lethargy.  It is, perhaps, the best we have but has a worryingly one dimensional feel to it.

Javier Hernandez and Michail Antonio will feature at some point but both have been mightily disappointing.  Hernandez is an impact player at best and Antonio has completely lost his mojo over the past couple of seasons – what happened to the player who one minute was tackling Liverpool’s Moreno just outside his own penalty box and then heading home at the other end a moment later?

Last season it was Barnes and Wood who did the damage but neither are expected to start this afternoon.  You would like to think that Pellegrini and the players are aware of the Burnley threat particularly from crosses and set pieces – cutting off supply will be key to keeping a rare clean sheet.

The match-day referee is Roger East from Wiltshire who is taking charge of only his second Premier League game of the season.  He was in the middle for the home win over Swansea last term as well as away defeat at Brighton.

Both Lawro and Paul Merson have predicted a 2-0 Hammer’s success which would be very welcome indeed.  It is a game that we should and need to win to give the season a lift and to prove that this is a team that are not only motivated for the bigger games.  Not picking up all three points would be extremely disappointing.  The worry is that West Ham will be too predictable allowing Burnley to frustrate and dampen the mood in the stadium- much like last season’s game, in fact.  Hopefully, an early goal will lighten that mood and set things up for a comfortable win.

West Ham will be seeking their third consecutive League Cup victory against Tottenham when they take on the homeless North Londoners in a fourth round tie at the London Stadium this evening.

This round represents the pivotal moment in the competition after which the bigger clubs, who initially treat it as a second class contractual obligation, suddenly realise it could be a way to keep the trophy cabinet topped up after all.  Like it or not, the cup (n its many incarnations) is more often than not hoisted aloft by the skipper of a top six side (apart from Arsenal who haven’t bothered to win it since 1993).  The best hope for the rest of us is a combination of mutual elimination (assuming the draw really is random) or by catching the big boys when they are focused on something more important.

Tottenham currently find themselves in the type of turmoil that is normally associated with West Ham.  With all the cash tied up in Levy’s vanity stadium rebuild project, currently massively over budget and over schedule, they are having to play their second game in three days due to weekend fixture congestion at their threadbare Wembley squat.  Yet, even at this stage of the season (all but eliminated from the Champion’s League and well off the pace in the Premier League), Pochettino may see the EFL cup as his best chance to finally nab a piece of consolation silverware.

While the Tottenham manager must decide which of his weary troops to hold back for the tough trip to Wolverhampton at the weekend, his West Ham counterpart has an equally difficult choice.  How to put together a competent enough side to demonstrate the claim of taking the competition seriously while at the same time avoiding any further damaging injuries that might impact a stuttering league campaign as it enter a period of apparently winnable games?

Once again, West Ham are top of the Premier League injury standings and, of the nine reported invalids, only Pedro Obiang has a chance of making it onto the pitch tonight.  The remainder: Marko Arnautovic, Andriy Yarmolenko, Andy Carroll, Lucas Perez, Manuel Lanzini, Jack Willshere, Carlos Sanchez and Winston Reid are joined by newly suspended skipper Mark Noble in sitting this one out.

The replacement of Noble by Obiang could be the most significant change from those involved at Leicester on Saturday.  Probably there will be starts for Adrian, Angelo Ogbonna, Ryan Fredericks and Aaron Cresswell; maybe Michail Antonio will get the nod over Javier Hernandez; or could there even be a rare sighting of, the now, lukewarm prospect, Reece Oxford?.  Elsewhere during the game expect some degree involvement for Joe Payne and Connor Coventry – you know you are getting old when professional football players look like they should still in school uniform!  Good luck to them anyway as it is always pleasing to see academy players getting an opportunity.

One League Cup tie that really sticks in my memory was when the Hammers beat Tottenham 1-0 at Upton Park in December 1980.  It was one of those electric nights under the lights of the Boleyn cauldron (quite appropriate for Halloween).   It may not have needed much to raise the roof off from those rickety old stands but it almost happened when David Cross scored the night’s only goal with just ten minutes to spare.  Rather than speculate of today’s lineup, here is a nostalgic look back to the team from 1980 that would eventually secure West Ham’s last visit to a league cup final.

The match referee will be Stuart Atwell from Warwickshire who was previously in Startford for the Hammers defeat to Bournemouth in August.  One way or another there has to be a result tonight and it would be no surprise to me if it all came down to the lottery of penalties.

It was this corresponding fixture last season that effectively guaranteed West Ham’s Premier League survival for at least another season.  The Hammers had triumphed 2-0 (Mario and Noble) against a Leicester side who had already packed up for the season and had failed to register an attempt on target until the final five minutes.

The end of that game saw a jubilant David Moyes celebrating with his players and it was his opposite number, Claude Puel, whose position was under intense pressure from disgruntled home supporters following a run of just four wins in nineteen games.  Yet it was Moyes who got the chop while Puel was given a stay of execution to prepare for a new Premier League term.  A few months ago I predicted that Puel would be in line as the first managerial casualty of the season but he has managed to keep his head above water in an uninspired mid-table no-mans-land.  Puel does remain one of the front-runners in the sack race but some way behind the leading pack of Mourinho, Jokanovic and Benitez.

With Mahrez having departed for pastures new in the search of further silverware, Leicester will rely even more heavily on Vardy’s goals for salvation.  There is some doubt as to whether he will be available for today’s game but, if he is, I hope the Hammer’s defenders have been well-drilled in understanding the Foxes primary tactic of the ball over the top.  Teams wanting to play a high defensive line can still be caught out as witnessed in the early stages of Leicester’s game at Arsenal last week.

The home side have a number of players in and around the England set-up in Maddsion, Maguire and Chillwell.  Maddison is an excellent player and just the sort of signing I would like to have seen at West Ham.  I’m not quite sure what to make of Maguire who has the look of the old fashioned big lump  who occasionally scores from a corner.  If the rumours of a 75 million Manchester United bid in the summer were true I would have taken it without a second thought.  It is a shame that Morgan is suspended as whoever they bring in as replacement is sure to be less erratic.

West Ham go into the game trying to avoid a third defeat on the bounce and, with mounting injury concerns, Manuel Pellegrini has few options to shake things up.  Andriy Yarmolenko joins the long term injured and Pedro Obiang is reported to be also missing.

If Pellegrini sticks with his preferred system then the only debate is whether it is Michail Antonio or Grady Diangana who replace Yarmolenko, and which of Aaron Cresswell or Arthur Masuaku claim the bothersome left back berth.  The only argument I can see for starting with Diangana on the bench is that it may be too much too soon for the youngster – and that he needs to be introduced gradually into the hurly burly of Premier League football.  Maybe Pellegrini will prefer to play safe with the experience of Antonio, even though the latter has offered little variety beyond his attempted foot races with assorted defenders along the touchline.

Keeping that formation will require Felipe Anderson to once again be charged with tracking back duties on the left hand side.  After his poor showing last weekend he badly needs rehabilitation.  Putting him in a more advanced role might well lessen his load but would also require Declan Rice to be moved slightly further forward reducing the protection he offers to the central defenders.  In effect 4-1-4-1 would become 4-4-1-1.  Either way, it is likely to be the same eleven players and in Obiang’s absence it will mean another start for Robert Snodgrass; all it needs is for the Scot to add some much needed quality to his new found energy.  He would, though, be a better option to support the full-back and it would take some of the pressure away from Anderson and allow him to focus on the attacking side of his game.  Rice had looked lost as part of a midfield four at Anfield but today’s opponents do not offer the same threat; he now has many more yards under his belt and I’m sure he would have learned from it.

Today’s referee is Michael Oliver from Northumberland who previously refereed the home win over Manchester United.  In 11 games this season he has flourished 36 yellow and two red cards.

On the pundit front, Lawro is predicting a 2-0 home win for The Foxes while Merson sees a 1-1 draw – which would be Leicester’s first stalemate of the season.  I suspect a low scoring game which West Ham will nick by the only goal.

Having endured yet another enforced break for the international equivalent of the EFL cup it is back to real football action this weekend as West Ham face Harry Kane & his All Stars in a surprise 3 o’clock Saturday afternoon kick off at the London Stadium.

After performing with some distinction in the previous intra-break spell of Premier League football, until falling at the final hurdle at Brighton, this will be a stern test for Manuel Pellegrini in what many see as the biggest game of the season – or at least the one with the greatest ‘mustn’t lose’ factor.

As usual the visitors sit on the periphery of the title race.  Solidly in the chasing pack but lacking that little extra something that would get them close to the winner’s enclosure.  I have been an admirer of the managerial talents of Mauricio Pochettino as a tactician and organiser but with his team starved of transfer funds and previous recruitment having been uninspired, he will need to find fresher pastures if he wants to add trophies to the plaudits.  If Tottenham had a chance of winning the Premier League title it would have been several years ago when they still had the element of surprise.  Now the squad looks tired and in need of a significant makeover.  On those occasions where they did invest they may have succeeded in improving squad depth but have not found those missing pieces required for success.

For Saturday’s game, West Ham will still be missing long term absentees Manuel Lanzini, Winston Reid, Andy Carroll, Jack Wilshere, Javier Hernandez and Carlos Sanchez while there are fresh doubts over the fitness of Robert Snodgrass and Arthur Masuaku – both having picked up knocks while away on international duty.  It was a surprise to see Marko Arnautovic turning out for Austria during the break given his apparent long running injury problems, but the signs are that he will be fit to start.

There have now been a couple of weeks to forget the disappointment of the south coast escapade and it will be interesting to see if Pellegrini is inclined towards any personnel changes from that night.  The Brighton goal was a true team effort from West Ham with Pablo Zabaleta, Mark Noble, Andriy Yarmolenko, Fabio Balbuena, Issa Diop and Masuaku all implicated in its concession.  Many social media observers pinned all of the blame on Masuaku and, while he should have at least made a token attempt to follow the run of Murray, I fear that it was too late by then to do anything about it other than giving away a penalty.  Still with Arthur on the possibly injured list it may be an opportunity to give Aaron Cresswell another run out.  Either way West Ham will continue to look exposed down that flank while it lacks adequate midfield reinforcement.

The goal aside, the Hammer’s greater failings at the Amex Stadium were a slow start and a lack of creativity in turning possession into sufficient goal-scoring opportunities.  It is always puzzling how often the team manages to lack collective intensity before the half-time pep talk.  Although the midfield threesome of Noble, Declan Rice and Pedro Obiang has worked well since its introduction at Everton, it is more suited to games where the opposition are looking to attack.  To that extent it can do a job this weekend.  Where it falls short is in providing the wit and variation to break down packed defences.

The visitors will be without Alli, Rose and Vertonghen but could welcome back Eriksen, Dembele and Wanyama – although with a midweek Champion’s League game on the horizon they may not all be risked.  Tottenham always looked more solid to me with Dembele and Wanyama as the midfield anchors but, for some reason, the manager seems to prefer Dier and Sissoko – which is like trying to win an F1 race in a Ford Transit.  South Korean draft dodger Son has often been a thorn in the Hammer’s side (as has any player prepared to run at us speed) but will probably have to make do with a place on the bench.

The referee for the afternoon is Martin Atkinson from West Yorkshire.  Atkinson was in charge earlier this season for West Ham’s win at Goodison Park and also Tottenham’s opening day victory at Newcastle.

There is punditry alignment this week with both Paul Merson and Mark Lawrenson  firmly on the fence for a 1-1 draw.  The good thing about playing Tottenham is that motivation is unlikely to be an issue meaning that the requisite level of commitment and intensity should be apparent all around the ground.  The worry as always will be to keep Kane quiet and cut off his supply from the full-backs.  Assuming we can manage those defensive backs I am backing West Ham to run out as 2-0 winners.

Having picked up seven of nine points from a run of games where the majority had given the Hammers little chance, they now travel to face a Brighton side in a match where the law of big money should point to West Ham success more often than not.  That ignores, however, the Hammer’s historic propensity to stumble badly (perhaps in a misplaced sense of complacency) in the wake of the optimism that follows a string of good results.  Just as the equivalent fixture last season put an end to a six game unbeaten run in the league by David Moyes’ side.

In fact, although the overall record against Brighton looks good on the surface this most reflects bygone non-league and war-time cup encounters.  In the senior leagues it is the Seagulls that have the upper hand and, in the very top flight, West Ham have won only once in the six meetings to date – a 2-1 win (Cottee, Dickens) at Upton Park in March 1983.

Last season, West Ham charitably donated six of Brighton’s forty league points as well as six of their thirty four league goals.  When the two sides met at the Amex Stadium in February this year, the home side ran out 3-1 winners but only three Hammers (Mark Noble, Pablo Zabaleta and Declan Rice) from that game are likely to be on show again tonight.

With no fresh injury worries there can be no debate about Manuel Pellegrini’s starting lineup tonight.  Any changes to the formation that has worked so well since being introduced at the Everton game would be a big surprise.  Whether by accident or design the manager has hit upon a system that suits the players available, giving them the freedom to demonstrate their particular talents and to play a style of football that is finally worth the admission money.  Provided that key players stay fit and over-confidence is kept at bay then I see no reason why it cannot continue to pay dividends.  The squad still has a flimsy look in certain positions but everything is looking a whole lot rosier than it was before the last international break.

No matter what system a team plays there will always be comparative weakness somewhere in its make-up that opposition team will seek to exploit.  For West Ham, it is the amount of space that we allow attacking players down the flanks.  It is a delicate balance as to how much support wide attacking players should give to the full-backs without restricting attacking ambitions.  Keeping the shape seems to work better on the right hand side where Andriy Yarmolenko tracks back effectively despite a few chaotic attempts to clear the danger.  On the left, however, the shape has been a lot less compact and it will be a key battle tonight to see how how well Arthur Masuaku, Pedro Obiang and Felipe Anderson collectively nullify the threat from the pacey Knockaert.  The Obiang role is rather confusing involving as it does a lot of running and closing down but relatively few touches.  It is interesting that in the last two games his average position has been further forward than that of Anderson.

Brighton may well have been many people’s tip for relegation at the start of the season but have shown enough spirit and organisation to suggest that they can survive for a second season.  There are certainly more than three worse teams in the Premier League at the moment.  Home form will again be important to them and they will surely be targeting a return from tonight’s fixture.

The absence of Gross is a big blow for Chris Hughton (and a bonus for West Ham) but the Seagulls may be able to welcome back Colombian Izquierdo, a player who did little last season other than embarrass the Hammers on two occasions.  One would assume that the Fabian Balbuena/ Issa Diop partnership would be too strong to be bothered by veteran striker Murray, but having written him off several times in the past I will reserve any critical judgement of his threat and abilities for the time being.  It is a surprise that Murray never featured in the long list of failed West Ham striker signings but you just know, if he had, he would have been turning out, a broken man, in the National League by now.  Instead he has had a new lease of life mixing it with the best on the south coast.

The matchday referee is Kevin Friend from Leicestershire who takes charge of his second Brighton game of the season, the previous one being the home side’s victory at home to Manchester United.  Friend is one of the lower key Premier League referees and one of the least likely to go around waving red cards.

Neither of our favourite pundits have foreseen a West Ham win tonight and, while Merson predicts a 2-2 draw, Lawro has the Hammers stumbling to a 2-1 defeat.  A win by more than two goals will see West Ham clamber into the league’s top ten, at least temporarily, at the expense of Manchester United.  It will by no means be an easy game but using the power of positive thinking to will us above Mourinho’s miscreants I will be predicting a 4-1 win.