West Ham predicted line-up vs Brentford: Four big changes as Hammers handed double blow

West Ham will be on cloud nine after they knocked Arsenal out of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday following a very confident home performance. It also marked a very unsuccessful return to the London Stadium for Declan Rice, who left the club during the summer window in a £100 million move to the Emirates.

The Irons were in need of a morale boost, having gone four games without a win in all competitions. West Ham’s last victory came against SC Freiburg at the start of the month, since then and before their win over Arsenal, they had lost to Aston Villa, Olympiacos, and Everton, and drawn against Newcastle.

Their display over Arsenal will have certainly kicked David Moyes’ side into a high gear, ready for their next challenge this weekend. The Hammers will take on Brentford on Saturday as they look to inject this winning buzz into the Premier League. On paper, it’s going to be a great battle for the neutrals fans as West Ham are currently just one point ahead of the Bees in the table, in ninth and tenth place respectively.

Suspensions hit West Ham

West Ham made the most of a sluggish-looking Arsenal side during their midweek clash, coming out on top of the 3-1 scoreline. Save for Martin Ødegaard’s late consolation goal, the Irons dominated the fixture. A Ben White own goal after just 16 minutes set the tone for how the match would play out. Goals from Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen then sealed the victory, as the Gunners struggled to trouble the West Ham defence.

While the Hammers are lucky with injury and have no absentees, one cause for concern as they prepare for Brentford is that they will be without both Lucas Paquetá and Edson Álvarez through suspension. The two picked up their fifth respective yellow cards of the season against Everton and will serve their one-match bans this weekend.

Fortunately, James Ward-Prowse can step up just fine, and summer signing Kudus will also benefit from potentially being handed another start after his performance against Arsenal helped his side progress in the Carabao Cup. This could also be the time to shine for Saïd Benrahma, who has had limited time on the pitch in the league this season.

West Ham predicted lineup

Alphonse Aréola; Vladimír Coufal, Kurt Zouma, Nayef Aguerd, Emerson Palmieri; James Ward-Prowse, Tomáš Souček; Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus, Saïd Benrahma; Michail Antonio.

Brentford bright after Chelsea win

Brentford will enter this weekend’s clash after a 2-0 win over Chelsea. Given the Blues’ form over the last season and a bit, it’s not too surprising that the Bees took all three points from them. But, it is still Chelsea and it’s still a big victory on paper to brag about. Ethan Pinnock and Bryan Mbuemo got themselves on the scoresheet in the second half to hand Mauricio Pochettino his fourth loss of the season.

Brentford do have a bulk of players out of action due to injury though, with Rico Henry and Kevin Schade not expected to return to the pitch this year. Ivan Toney is also out of contention until his suspension is lifted in January, but talks surrounding his potential exit have ramped up.

It’s hard to suggest a lineup different to the side Thomas Frank deployed over Chelsea, as they will certainly fancy their chances against West Ham with the same team this weekend.

Mark Flekken; Kristoffer Ajer, Ethan Pinnock, Nathan Collins; Mads Roerslev, Mathias Jensen, Christian Nørgaard, Vitaly Janelt, Aaron Hickey; Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa.