West Ham need just a draw from the match against Southampton to secure a Europa League group-stage spot next season.
A Europa Conference League play-off place is almost guaranteed for the Hammers but David Moyes has his eyes firmly set on the Europa League going into today’s clash.
The Hammers put themselves in pole position for continental football following their 3-1 win over West Brom on Wednesday evening and Moyes is expected to trust the same team from The Hawthorns to finish the job off.
Darren Randolph was a late inclusion to take on the Baggies following a knee injury that Lukasz Fabianski picked up in the warm-up.
The Pole is unlikely to be deemed fit enough to start today but his involvement in Poland’s Euro 2020 campaign does not seem to be under threat.
Randolph put in a fine performance at The Hawthorns and is an able deputy to Fabianski when required.
With that in mind, here is the team we at football.london expect Moyes to pick at the London Stadium.
Predicted XI: Fabianski; Coufal, Dawson, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Rice, Soucek; Fornals, Lingard, Benrahma; Antonio.
Ahead of the Irish international, the first-choice back four of Aaron Cresswell, Angelo Ogbonna, Craig Dawson and Vladimir Coufla will again take the field.
The midfield axis will see Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek line up alongside one another once more with an attacking quartet ahead of them.
Said Benrahma is expected to start on the left with Pablo Fortnals on the right and Jesse Lingard through the middle supporting Michail Antonio as the lone striker.
Jarrod Bowen came off the bench versus West Brom and looked lively but after a fine performance from Benrahma, the English midfielder will almost certainly have to settle for a role as a substitute once more.
Why should you sign up?
In each football.london West Ham bulletin, we’ll be bringing you the latest breaking news, transfer features and comment pieces, as well as the key talking points for fans.
We’ll also send special newsletters when big stories break or there’s a special event happening.
How do you sign up?
It’s easy and only takes seconds.
Simply type your email address into the box at the top of this article – or any article on the West Ham section of football.london in fact – labelled ‘Get the biggest daily stories by email’ and click ‘Subscribe’.
And that’s it, you’re all set.
If you decide later that you no longer wish to receive the emails, simply follow the unsubscribe link in one of the newsletters – but we don’t think you’ll want to.
For more details, click here.
Southampton will be looking to end the season on a high following a poor recent run of form that has seen them win just two of their previous eight matches.
Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl will have Danny Ings, Oriol Romeu and Jan Bednarek available Scotland international Che Adams will be missing with a groin issue.
As reported on HampshireLive Hasenhuttl said: “Che Adams is out. He cannot play at the weekend. He will be out. The rest are fit.
“It is only a small one. He will be out for five to ten days. He has the Euros coming up so we did not want to take the risk. It is only a small one for him.”