**West Ham face a trip to Burton Albion in the FA Cup tomorrow, it’s got us wondering what sort of team Nuno will play.**
It obviously isn’t a crucial game, or focus will be heavily on the Premier League as we fight relegation. However, there is no League match for a week so this has to be the priority for now.
It needs to be the priority, but we can afford to make a few changes as it’s a struggling League One side.
It’s a perfect opportunity to mix up the team, play some youngsters/squad players as well as first team starters.
**My ideal starting XI**: Areola; Walker-Peters, Mavropanos, Kilman, Scarles; Magassa, Kante, Soucek; Bowen, Castellanos, Traore.
I would make seven changes from the team that drew 1-1 against Manchester United at London Stadium.
I’d bring in Areola, Walker-Peters, Kilman, Scarles and Magassa in all purely for rotation reasons. All of them haven’t started matches recently and it’s a great opportunity for them to play into Nuno’s thinking ahead of Bournemouth next week.
I’d also start Mohamadou Kante in midfield, he’s had a few sub cameos under Nuno and has looked quite promising, I feel like he deserves a start and he should be more than comfortable alongside his compatriot Magassa and the experience of Tomas Soucek. If not Kante, I wouldn’t be against seeing either Orford or Fearon play from the start.
In attack, I’d keep Castellanos and Bowen in because I think they could really do with a goal, we need them firing if we’re going to stay up.
Also, maybe quite controversially, I’d start Adama Traore on the left. It’s not his strongest position, the right side is . However, Nuno seems to sub him on out on the left almost every match, so a start for him against a weaker team in that position could benefit him.
On the bench I’d like to see Ezra Mayers, Airidas Golambeckis, Finlay Herrick, and Keiber Lamadrid as well as the experience of Callum Wilson, Crysencio Summerville, and Mateus Fernandes if we need a goal.