OPINION
West Ham United will no doubt be wanting to return to winning ways after their 2-0 loss to Bournemouth on Saturday with a victory in their FA Cup clash against AFC Wimbledon.
The Hammers travel to the League One strugglers on Saturday evening in order to compete for a place in the fifth round of the competition, however, there will be some changes that boss Manuel Pellegrini will have to make in order to secure a positive result.
He must make five changes to the side that lost to the Cherries recently, with the likes of Pedro Obiang and Grady Diangana coming in.
In goal, despite his almost faultless record for the Hammers since his arrival, Lukasz Fabianski must be replaced by second choice Adrian in order to give him a run-out and some minutes under his belt.
The second change must come in the defence, with ace Aaron Cresswell – who is on £50,000-a-week [Spotrac] – to be axed in favour of Arthur Masuaku, who has been operating as an understudy in recent weeks.
Mark Noble has been excellent lately and it is safe to say that his midfield combination with Declan Rice is a sight to behold – however, he must make way to accommodate Obiang, who has been playing more of a fringe role in the team recently.
Diangana is a young gem improving all the time, which is why he must be given the opportunity to show what he can do on Saturday with his speed – this will be at the expense of Michail Antonio, who will be not much of a loss to the team.
The last and final change should come in the shape of Marko Arnautovic, who missed the trip to the Vitality Stadium last weekend. He must start ahead of attacker Andy Carroll, who was woeful in front of goal last time out.
If Pellegrini makes the right calls regarding his starting XI on Saturday, then there is no doubt his team would destroy Wimbledon convincingly.
