Charlie Nicholas has predicted that West Ham will win 3-0 against relegation-threatened Huddersfield at the London Stadium on Saturday.
Manuel Pellegrini’s men have won just two of their last nine games in all competitions, but are widely-expected to ease past the Yorkshire club this week, with the Terriers earning just four points in their last 17 Premier League fixtures.
Nicholas expects Marko Arnautovic to return to Pellegrini’s starting line-up on Saturday, and predicts that the Austria international will score a couple of goals.
“I’ve been interested with what Manuel Pellegrini has done because this wasn’t easy at the start of the season. He’s calmed the fans and team down. They seem to be quite united now. They’ve managed to keep Marko Arnautovic and he’ll be back in the lineup for me this weekend,” Nicholas said on the Sky Sports website.
“Huddersfield are playing for a bit of pride but they’re gone [relegation]. I think Arnautovic’s return means West Ham are going to have a comfortable afternoon. I expect him to score two.”
OPINION
Judging by Pellegrini’s comments to the press this week, Arnautovic does seem as though he is going to earn his first start since January when West Ham welcome Huddersfield to east London on Saturday. The former Stoke attacker has not scored for the Irons since the FA Cup win against Birmingham on January 5, but he’s only started two games since then after it was widely-reported that bids were tabled for him. Arnautovic surely knows that he needs to put in a good display this weekend. He needs to prove that his head is in the right place at the moment after Pellegrini, justifiably, dropped him from his starting line-up, but he also needs to put himself back in the shop window ahead of the summer transfer window. Arnautovic’s value will drop if he isn’t scoring goals, which also means that the better teams will avoid signing him and his wage offers will be lower. It is in everyone’s best interest for him to hit the net against the Terriers.