OPINION
West Ham United welcome Championship outfit Birmingham City this Saturday in the third round of the FA Cup in a bid to progress to the next round.
Manager Manuel Pellegrini will no doubt make several changes to the side that drew 2-2 with Brighton on Wednesday in order to rest some of his key players for the clash against Arsenal the following weekend.
Marko Arnautovic may have been West Ham’s best player on the pitch on Wednesday, but he is one of the five changes the Chilean must make to stand a good chance of getting one over Birmingham.
The first change must come in goal, where second choice keeper Adrian must come in for Lukasz Fabianski in order to give the Polish stopper a rest.
Pellegrini must also make two changes to the back four that started against the Seagulls, with Aaron Cresswell – who has been in rather good form lately – being axed in favour of Arthur Masuaku, who has been sitting on the bench in recent times.
The other alteration to the defence must come in the shape of Michail Antonio, who must be shifted to right-back at the expense of Pablo Zabaleta, who at 33-years-old, cannot play every single game.
Declan Rice must retain his usual place in the central midfield, but playing alongside him should be the rarely-seen player Conor Coventry. Despite the fact that he is yet to make a Premier League appearance this season – his sole senior outing coming in the Carabao Cup – he must be given the chance to shine in a midfield role, with Mark Noble also making the cut.
This means that Pedro Obiang should be dropped in the fourth change to the team after his abysmal display against the Seagulls on Wednesday.
Felipe Anderson and Robert Snodgrass must take up their respective roles on either wing after a string of impressive performances lately – however, Arnautovic must be dropped in order to keep him rested for the Gunners match in the fifth and final change.
In his place should come Lucas Perez, who despite not blowing anyone away recently, deserves to have a decent run-out against relatively easier opposition.
If Pellegrini makes the right calls on Saturday regarding his starting XI, then his team would crush Birmingham to bits.
