West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini will make three changes to his starting XI and name Samir Nasri on the bench against Brighton on Wednesday night, according to a club insider.
ExWHUemployee, a renowned source for insider information on the Hammers, reported on his personal Twitter account on Wednesday afternoon that there would be three changes to the starting team.
He also claimed that new signing Nasri, who was only announced a couple of days ago, is set for a surprise place on the bench following reports he was set to sit out the game entirely.
There are three changes to the side and Sami Nasri is on the bench ?
— ExWHUEmployee (@ExWHUEmployee) January 2, 2019
OPINION
Rotation is key at this point in the season with games coming thick and fast during a manic winter schedule, so to see three changes from Pellegrini is not a surprise. He will want to keep the core of his team the same while resting players intermittently in order to extract full value and effort from his squad during this tough period. The exciting news here is obviously the fact that Nasri is set to feature for the club for the first time. Granted, he is only on the bench and therefore may not even get on the pitch, but the France international is certainly a brilliant option for Pellegrini to have in reserve. The signing of Nasri was not greeted with universal delight among West Ham fans, many of whom are yet to be convinced, so an exciting cameo from the 31-year-old in his first game would be a good place to start. Hopefully he will not be needed in the first place, but Brighton are a tough opponent in good form, and the Hammers will need to play well to get a result.