West Ham: Fabianski, Cresswell, Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Rice, Noble, Anderson, Snodgrass, Hernandez, Antonio. Subs: Adrian, Zabaleta, Carroll, Obiang, Masuaku, Perez, Diangana.
Liverpool: Alisson, Robertson, Matip, van Dijk, Milner, Lallana, Keita, Fabinho, Salah, Mane, Firmino. Subs: Mignolet, Sturridge, Moreno, Shaqiri, Origi, Jones, Camacho.
Injuries are part and parcel of modern day professional football, especially in the cut and thrust of the Barclays Premier League and in West Ham United's case the parcel is so massive it is almost undeliverable! No club can cope with almost an entire first team out injured, in that respect Hammers are way top of the table with Arsenal retaining second place.
An extremely quiet transfer window saw West Ham only acquire one senior player, and he was already in place at the London Stadium, but what a player, Samir Nasri and he has had quite a career. He was considered as one of the best attacking midfielders while at Arsenal, and Manchester City fought tooth and nail to get him to the Etihad.
Michy Batshuayi has scuppered any chance of joining West Ham on loan despite Chelsea having reached an agreement sanctioning the move, Batshuayi's quite frankly astonishing wage demands finally put the nail in the coffin for the transfer to happen. Spanish club Real Betis, were also interested but they too have been put off by the demands of a player who only managed to score three goals in 23 appearances for Valencia while on loan during the first half of the season.
West Ham may have at least three striking vacancies up front if the news reaching us turns out to be as valid as we think, Lucas Perez is definitely leaving the club for the same £4 Million paid for him at the beginning of the season with Real Betis being his main suitor. Jordan Hugill is set to make his loan move to Middlesbrough a permanent one for around £6 Million and Javier Hernandez is subject to several offers, all of which are way short of the £17 Million that Hammers paid Bayern for his services.
West Ham’s inconsistency was laid bare once again as they slumped to a disappointing defeat at the hands of Wolves on Tuesday night. It was a cold, grim evening in the Black Country and the Hammers responded to those challenging conditions with an insipid display. They failed to register a single shot on target and found themselves completely overrun by a tougher, hungrier Wolves side. The result capped a run of three straight defeats for the Hammers and sent them tumbling down the Premiership table.
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Patricio, Bennett, Saiss, Coady, Doherty, Neves, Moutinho, Dendoncker, Jonny, Jimenez, Jota. Subs: Ruddy, Vinagre, Kilman, Gibbs-White, Cavaleiro, Traore, Costa.
West Ham United: Fabianski, Zabaleta, Ogbonna, Diop, Masuaku, Rice, Noble, Antonio, Anderson, Snodgrass, Arnautovic. Subs: Adrian, Fredericks, Coventry, Obiang, Diangana, Chicharito, Carroll.
Teenager Mesaque Dju has arrived in London ahead of his medical at West Ham today, Dju is set to sign a three and a half year contract and will join up directly with the U23's squad.
The European transfer window has a little over two days remaining, generally in the past Hammers fans have got used to a diet of broken promises and ridiculously low bids that would never be accepted by club's for their players. This is the first season that West Ham have the financial benefit of not having taken out a 'pay day' loan that needs repaying, as it has not been allowed by the FA or the Premier League for the last couple of seasons.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, especially when it comes to setting up Football teams, Hammers vastly experienced manager Manuel Pellgrini selected what he thought was a 'competent' team in order to see off bottom of League 1 side FC Wimbledon. Indeed, pundits were congratulating 'Pelle' for taking the game seriously ahead of the match starting.