OPINION
West Ham United manager Manuel Pellegrini would be wise to drop the underperforming Felipe Anderson for his team’s clash with Everton on Saturday.
The Brazilian hasn’t looked at his scintillating best since the turn of the year and it would be a good idea for Pellegrini to start Samir Nasri ahead of him at the London Stadium.
Ryan Fredericks, Fabian Balbuena and Javier Hernandez must all also enter the fray against the Toffees, with Pablo Zabaleta, Angelo Ogbonna and Manuel Lanzini dropping out.
Those four changes would be enough for the Hammers to breeze past Marco Silva’s side in similar fashion to their easy victory at Goodison Park earlier this season.
Lukasz Fabianski is the undisputed number one at West Ham and with good reason. If anyone deserves to start on Saturday it’s him. As mentioned, Fredericks should get the nod over Zabaleta; he is simply a superior player than the Argentine at this stage of their respective careers.
At left back Aaron Cresswell absolutely has to keep his place ahead of the hapless Arthur Masuaku. Meanwhile, it’s time that Balbuena returned in place of Ogbonna. Issa Diop should, as ever, start alongside him.
Declan Rice will be on a high after his England exploits over the international break, and he should get the nod alongside captain Mark Noble in central midfield.
Out wide, as mentioned, Nasri must be preferred to Anderson on the left, while Michail Antonio deserves to keep his place on the right hand side. Marko Arnautovic and Hernandez should start in tandem up front.
