West Ham predicted line-up vs Bournemouth: will new man Edson Álvarez start in Premier League clash?

The build up to West Ham United’s opening game of the season has not been straightforward. Reports of backroom unrest between David Moyes and technical director Tim Steidten over transfers have mixed in with a somewhat embarrassing 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen, and now they seem likely to add the loss of another star player into the blender, as Manchester City make a big bid for Lucas Paquetá.

The signing of Edson Álvarez has at least been completed, but the deal for James Ward-Prowse remains uncompleted and the squad looks thin from front to back. The good news is that much of this will likely be sorted out by September – the bad news is that things are all a bit up in the air for the trip to Bournemouth.

So how will Moyes line his men up for Saturday’s trip to the Vitality Stadium? Let’s take a look and find out…

Formation

Even with a dearth of new recruits, Moyes will continue to press on with the 4-2-3-1 formation that he has made his go-to since arriving at the London Stadium, and whoever West Ham do bring in – and whoever calls the shots over those decisions – we can expect that to remain a constant throughout the campaign.

Goalkeeper

There has been some speculation that former Paris Saint-Germain stopper Alphonse Areola could claim the starting spot at some stage this season, if only because default number one Łukasz Fabiański is now 38 and getting fairly long in the tooth. Nevertheless, pre-season indications are that the Pole will continue to stand between the sticks for the Hammers, so expect him to start on the south coast.

Defence

A couple of positions are hard to gauge here, but based on the line-up used against Leverkusen it seems likely that Thilo Kehrer will get the nod at right-back over Vladimír Coufal, with Emerson Palmieri starting on the opposite side.

At centre-back Moyes used Kurt Zouma and captain Angelo Ogbonna for that final friendly, with Nayef Aguerd still gradually recovering from minor surgery necessitated after an injury sustained against Rangers. The Moroccan will likely start over Ogbonna if he is deemed sufficiently fit, however.

Midfield

Edson Álvarez should be all ready to play and may well take the place of youngster Flynn Downes alongside Czech stalwart Tomáš Souček in the double pivot, assuming Moyes is happy with his form and fitness – not that the Scot will have much time to assess that, given the Mexican only reported for training on Thursday.

Paquetá should still start in the more advanced midfield role despite the sudden interest of Manchester City – and there are no indications that the Brazilian plans to kick up a fuss about the negotiations just yet. Should there be any problems, Pablo Fornals is available to step in – indeed West Ham have no players expected to miss out entirely with injury, a great mercy with such a small squad.

Attack

Probably the toughest position to gauge at present. Young striker Divin Mubama started against Leverkusen but is likely to make way for one of the two veterans in the squad – Michail Antonio or Danny Ings. The former had been expected to leave but the collapse of a Saudi move means the Jamaican international is still in east London and perhaps the most likely to start on Saturday.

The flanks will likely be occupied by Saïd Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen, the latter of which has had an outstanding pre-season and looks set to recapture some of the form that saw him shine in the 2021/22 campaign. Maxwel Cornet should start on the bench.

Full predicted line-up

Fabiański; Kehrer, Zouma, Ogbonna, Emerson; Álvarez, Souček, Paquetá; Benrahma, Bowen, Antonio.