OPINION
West Ham United will be looking to return to winning ways when they welcome Tottenham Hotspur to the London Stadium on Saturday.
The Hammers suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Brighton and Hove Albion before the international break, having recovered admirably from a woeful start to the season just before.
Manuel Pellegrini looks to be seemingly settled on his first choice line-up, and he is only expected to make one change to the team that lost to the Seagulls.
Lukasz Fabianski has been superb for the team since his summer signing from Swansea City and he will no doubt continue his form against Spurs. The Pole has arguably been West Ham’s player of the season so far this term and he’ll be relied upon to keep out the likes of Harry Kane.
At the back, Pablo Zabaleta has been key to the team’s revival and could continue at right back at the expense of summer recruit Ryan Fredericks.
Aaron Cresswell – who is on £50,000-a-week [Spotrac] – is expected to take the place of 24-year-old Arthur Masuaku at left-back, with the DR Congo player suffering a knock over the international break.
He will now join the likes of Carlos Sanchez, Jack Wilshere, Andy Carroll, Winston Reid and Manuel Lanzini on the sidelines.
Fabian Balbuena and Issa Diop, bought for a combined £28.5million in the summer, were solid at the back despite the loss to Brighton – so they are expected to continue their trusted partnership against Spurs.
The midfield three of Mark Noble, Declan Rice and Pedro Obiang have been central to the team’s turnaround in fortunes, so they are to keep their places for this fixture.
There are no new injury worries to attacker Andriy Yarmolenko, who is expected to link-up with Felipe Anderson and Marko Arnautovic to form a fearsome front three.
