Nuno’s West Ham United side face a mountain to climb at London Stadium this afternoon if they are to grab three points and overtake their north London rivals in the relegation battle that has come down to two teams. Arsenal of course are knocking on the door of the Premier League trophy room, sitting two points ahead of Guardiola’s Manchester City with two games to play after this weekend’s match day 36 games are completed.
Claret and Hugh have rolled the dice, dealt the Tarot cards and read the runes to try and predict Nuno’s line up. Without a change at left back (Diouf for Wan-Bissaka?) or an addition to the Hammers’ midfield to counter Arsenal’s threat, the Hammers will be vulnerable indeed.
Time to see Wan Bissaka grafted in to left back?
However-the Portuguese Manager has kept the same line up for the last three outings and there’s no reason to expect him to abandon his stubborn streak and modify. Much as we’d like to see Jarrod Bowen revert to a striker role in place of Pablo and see Traore on from the start it just doesn’t seem a very Nuno thing to do.
Unfortunately.
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So we’d guess he’ll double down and keep his Hammers line up unchanged:
Hermansen | Walker Peters, Mavropanos, Disasi, Diouf | Soucek, Fernandes | Bowen, Pablo, Taty, Summerville
In which case the score predictions look grim: (look away now if you are of a nervous disposition)
Martin 0-4 Arsenal win
Gonzo 2-0 Arsenal win
Matt 3-1 Arsenal win
Sean 1-0 West Ham win thanks to HOTY Mavropanos!
Check back for West Ham’s announced starting XI at 15.15.