West Ham predicted lineup vs Backa Topola: £19m ace makes his debut

As David Moyes prepares for the first Europa League group stage fixture, here’s the West Ham predicted lineup vs Backa Topola.

West Ham predicted lineup vs Backa Topola

In goal, I would expect there to be some rotation. Areola has been exceptional for West Ham this season, but in the Europa League, I think Lukasz Fabianski will get the nod. At right-back, there will again be some squad rotation with the worthy Thilo Kehrer coming in, as well as at left-back, where Aaron Cresswell earns a start.

The two centre backs of choice for David Moyes is where things become interesting. This is the perfect opportunity for the Hammers boss to unleash Konstantinos Mavropanos. The defender who signed from Stuttgart is colossal and will be up for fixtures like this. He is likely to partner Kurt Zouma in the heart of defence.

Alvarez is still a doubt, so I don’t think Moyes is in the best place to risk him. Therefore, I think Tomas Soucek will retain his place, while James Ward-Prowse drops deeper than he’d like for this match only. At attacking midfielder, Mohammed Kudus, who impressed against Man City as a sub, will come on for his full debut.

On the left, it wouldn’t be the worst idea to start Lucas Paqueta, who is always lively and could provide the attacking prowess needed to win this game. At striker, I think Danny Ings gets the nod as he has experience in these fixtures. On the right, the Conference League hero Jarrod Bowen could kick things off for West Ham in the Europa League.

West Ham predicted lineup vs Backa Topola: Fabianski, Kehrer, Zouma, Mavropanos, Cresswell; Soucek, Ward-Prowse, Kudus; Bowen, Ings, Paqueta