West Ham United had to sweat it out to beat non-league side Kidderminster in the FA Cup and now they will have to promptly shift their focus back to the Premier League.
Before the international break, the Hammers slipped out of the top four so they will need to pick up all three points vs Watford on Tuesday in order to ensure that they don’t fall further behind.
The Hammers have lost their previous two games in the league but they have a good record against Watford, winning their last four meetings across all competitions. The Hornets are in pretty bad shape themselves as they have not registered a single victory in their previous five outings.
We don’t see Watford putting up a lethal fight against West Ham United, especially since David Moyes will reinstate his best starting line up on Tuesday night.
The Hammers have already played one game more than Man United(4th on the table) so they will absolutely need to win this encounter. Any other result apart from a win could see them slip to as low as the seventh spot.
West Ham United team news & injuries vs Watford:
David Moyes heavily rotated his squad for the FA Cup clash but almost all of his regular starters will come back into the side this week.
Lukasz Fabianski didn’t make the matchday squad on Saturday, possibly due to an illness and if he is not fit by Tuesday then Alphonse Areola will play as the No 1.
Kurt Zouma picked up a knock in the 4th Round tie but he had to continue playing with the pain since the West Ham United manager had already made all the substitutions. Moyes though calmed some nerves after the win claiming that the injury is not as serious as it had looked at first glance.
Moyes said after the match, as quoted by Football.London: “I think he’s okay. I was a bit worried.
“Obviously, the plan was not to play him as long but we made changes to try and get ourselves in the cup and stay in the cup so unfortunately, I was not able to bring him off earlier.”
Declan Rice with the 91-minute equalizer to keep West Ham's FA Cup hopes alive 😤
(Via @EmiratesFACup)pic.twitter.com/Oe62S7oJ1G
— B/R Football (@brfootball) February 5, 2022
Cresswell and Coufal will come back into the side and even the midfield is going to see a reshuffle with Declan Rice and Soucek replacing Mark Noble and Kral.
In Michail Antonio’s absence, Jarrod Bowen had to lead the line on Saturday but Antonio should be ready to start vs Watford, in which case, Bowen will move back to the right-wing.
Antonio returned to England on Friday is likely to be fully fit and ready for selection.
The manager had said last week: “Michail will arrive back from Jamaica at 11am today[Friday}. I think the biggest problem is that the scheduling for all the games is really tough for the people doing it.”
Lanzini and Fornals were both missing from the first XI vs Kidderminster but the pair will return to the side for the midweek game.
West Ham United injuries vs Watford:
Lukasz Fabianski – Illness – Doubtful.
Angelo Ogbonna – Knee injury – Ruled out.
Kurt Zouma – Knock – Should be fit to start.
West Ham vs Watford – Kick off:
The match will be played at the London Stadium on 8th February and the game will kick off at 20:00 GMT.
