West Ham are set to kick off their Capital One Cup campaign tonight away to Leicester City. The tie sees two of the most in-form sides in the Premier League match-up against each other in what should be an entertaining encounter.
The Hammers’ record in this particular competition has been a bit of a mixed bag in recent years. In the previous campaign, West Ham were knocked out in the 2nd round by Sheffield United but they did reach the semi-final of the competition under Allardyce, losing 9-0 on aggregate to Manchester City in 2013/14.
The closest the Hammers have come to the final in recent seasons was 2010/11. The two-legged semi-final went to extra time against Birmingham City. The midlands club eventually won 4-3 on aggregate and went on to win the competition by beating Arsenal 2-1 at Wembley.
Now, the Hammers will feel that they can really give this competition a good go due to the strength in depth of the current squad. Without the commitment of the Europa League, Bilic can still field a solid side against Leicester safe in the knowledge that the team to play Norwich on Saturday will be fully ready for the home fixture.
With that in mind, here’s our predicted line-up for tonight’s encounter (19:45 ko):
Andy Carroll is in line for his first start of the season as he returns from injury, Sakho will be rested and Nikica Jelavic is cup-tied. Mauro Zarate has also recovered from a hamstring injury and should feature tonight. Victor Moses will provide pace to the side as Michail Antonio, like Jelavic, has already featured in the cup already this season.
Cheikou Kouyate is also looking to return to first team action but he may make a substitute’s appearance in order to be fit for a start on Saturday.
Elsewhere, Darren Randolph provides a solid back-up option in goal and an experienced defence will help out young Stephen Hendrie who will hopefully get the chance to impress tonight.
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