West Ham are set to make a “couple of changes” to their starting XI for Saturday’s Premier League showdown against Tottenham, according to a club insider.
Ex-WHU Employee, who is an outstanding source of Hammers news, claimed on his personal Twitter account on Saturday morning that Manuel Pellegrini, who did not identify any new injuries at his pre-match media conference, has been forced to make amendments to the team after some expected starters “picked up knocks”.
He did not name the players in the exchange with a supporter, which took place eight hours ahead of the 3pm London Stadium clash.
A couple of players have picked up knocks so there are a couple of changes that’s all I can say ?? https://t.co/G43dYOS5V5
— ExWHUEmployee (@ExWHUEmployee) October 20, 2018
OPINION
West Ham have had a settled side for their last four league matches, as Pellegrini has found the formula for winning Premier League games following a dreadful start to the season. He named an unchanged site for the clash against Brighton before the international break, which his side surprisingly lost 1-0. But it is clear that a three-man midfield of Declan Rice, Mark Noble and Pedro Obiang has provided a solid foundation and platform for the three forwards Andriy Yarmolenko, Marko Arnautovic and Felipe Anderson. Of the explosive trio, Arnautovic is the main man and supporters will be especially eager that he is fit and able to take his place in the starting XI. The Austrian striker has suffered some knee problems of late that have prevented him taking part in training early in the week, and there will be concern among supporters that he might not make it. With four league goals this season, he is the biggest danger to Tottenham.