West Ham have the daunting task of facing Liverpool at Anfield under the lights in the third round of the Carabao Cup tonight.
West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui has been under attack since the 3-0 defeat to Chelsea at the weekend.
If he was hoping for some respite, a rather cruel fixture schedule offers little comfort for the under pressure Spaniard with Liverpool away the latest test.
Arne Slot has overseen an excellent start as Liverpool’s successor to Jurgen Klopp with five wins from six so far.
Lopetegui’s start has been in stark contrast. The Spaniard has been tipped as an early frontrunner to be sacked with just one Premier League win, three defeats and a draw.
West Ham did scrape a 1-0 win over Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup, though.
That set up the third round trip to Anfield where West Ham are rank outsiders to progress.
However, stranger things have happened in football and if Lopetegui wants to make a statement about his ability as a manager then where better to do that than Liverpool.
There has been huge focus on Lopetegui’s team selections and tactics thus far.
All and sundry have criticised the 57-year-old from media to fans and the club’s owners.
Even the Premier League has stuck the boot in on Lopetegui ahead of the game at Liverpool.
The West Ham boss has been drip-feeding many of the club’s nine summer signings into the side.
That’s much to the frustrations of many fans and the board.
Lopetegui makes five West Ham changes for Liverpool
Niclas Fullkrug was handed a bench role for the first three Premier League games before injury ruled him out of the last two.
Star summer capture and former Liverpool target Jean-Clair Todibo has barely kicked a ball either.
Crysencio Summerville – another alleged summer target of Liverpool’s – finally got a start against Chelsea last time out. But despite being West Ham’s best player, Lopetegui subbed him off to jeers from the Hammers faithful in the second half.
Lopetegui says Fullkrug has trained ahead of the Liverpool clash.
If that’s the case and he’s fit then one might think he will start. But West Ham may be reluctant to take any risks.
Given Lopetegui’s bizarre team selections thus far, second guessing his line-ups is proving extremely difficult.
But we predict Lopetegui makes five West Ham changes for Liverpool after the shambles against Chelsea.
And an £82m trio look set to start.
1) Fabianski in for Areola
Lopetegui has already confirmed Lukasz Fabianski will replace Alphonse Areola in goal for the game.
Areola has made one or two stunning saves this season.
But some of his performances have raised eyebrows. Allowing himself to be nutmegged at his near post after three minutes against Chelsea and some of his distribution has drawn some criticism.
But by the same token he made one or two top class stops to keep the score down.
2) Todibo in for Mavropanos – finally
Lopetegui has inadvertently thrown the gauntlet down to Todibo.
After Todibo failed to get any minutes once again in the game against Chelsea, the top source inside the club exclusively told Hammers News the manager doesn’t feel he is ‘tough enough’ for English football yet.
Supporters argue that the 24-year-old can’t be expected to adapt to the level if he doesn’t ever play.
But we think tonight the £30m man will get another chance against Liverpool after starting the Carabao Cup game against Bournemouth.
3) Soucek in for Rodriguez
Guido Rodriguez was replaced during the first half last time out.
That earned him an apology from the manager, who held his hands up over his tactical disaster-class.
Tomas Soucek replaced him and was pretty bright overall.
The big Czech looks likely to do the same at Liverpool from the start.
4) Soler in for Paqueta
Lucas Paqueta has been woefully out of form since the turn of the year for West Ham.
Carlos Soler looked pretty good in cameos against Fulham and Chelsea.
Lopetegui says he needs time to adapt, but we think he might get a first West Ham start against the Reds in place of the Brazilian.
West Ham will be looking for Soler to create more as Lopetegui’s side have made just seven big chances in the Premier League so far – the second worst record in the top flight.
5) Fullkrug or Antonio in for Kudus
Mohammed Kudus has done everything but score this season.
But he was rested in the last cup game and could be again at Anfield. He looks like he could do with it.
As captain we expect Jarrod Bowen to continue in the starting XI.
If Fullkrug is back then he may well be thrown in from the start. If not then we may well see Michail Antonio leading the line again with Bowen on the right.
Predicted West Ham starting XI for Liverpool:
Fabianski, Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Emerson, Soucek, Alvarez, Soler, Summerville, Bowen, Fullkrug or Antonio.
Related Topics