West Ham kick off the 25/26 Premier League season with a trip to newly promoted Sunderland on Saturday afternoon.
It has been a slow summer of transfer business for Graham Potter and his recruitment team, but there is still reason to be optimistic of a better season than last.
Pre-season performances – and results – have shown that the players are on board with the way Potter wants to play, while the new signings appear to have settled in quickly.
Meanwhile, the emergence of a handful of academy players as potential first-team options this summer has perhaps reduced the urgency to go to market for additional reinforcements.
That said, there’s still a lot more business that needs to be done before we can all be pleased with the way the squad looks. At least one more central midfielder is required, as is a younger and more reliable striker.
Niclas Fullkrug and Callum Wilson are proven goal scorers in their own right, but both have had serious injury issues over the past couple of seasons, making it a bit too risky to go into a season relying on both of them as the club’s only senior strikers.
But heading into this weekend’s big opener, the balance of the team looks a lot better than it did before. This is how we expect Potter to line up against the Black Cats this weekend…
west ham predicted xi v sunderland
It is expected that Potter will go with his favoured 3-5-2 formation, which has been in place all pre-season.
Nayef Aguerd‘s return to the squad after being on loan last season strengthens the back three considerably.
In goal, Mads Hermansen could be thrown straight into the starting XI after joining from Leicester City last weekend. Alphonse Areola’s distribution was a big worry last season and he made a handful of mistakes in pre-season, which may force Potter’s hand in changing goalkeepers straight away.
Elsewhere, Freddie Potts’ impressive pre-season could land him a first Premier League start at the club he supports. Potts has proven that he is ready to make the step up to the highest level and, with a lack of options in midfield that can provide a combination of pace, passing and forward thinking, it’s expected he’ll be chosen alongside Lucas Paqueta and James Ward-Prowse in midfield.
The wing-backs will no doubt be Aaron Wan-Bissaka and El Hadji Malick Diouf. Diouf has impressed all summer since joining from Slavia Prague and provides pace and accurate crossing abilities on the left-hand side.
Up front, Fullkrug’s goals this summer will ensure he’s straight into the starting XI, while Jarrod Bowen‘s inclusion speaks for itself.