da dobrowin： West Ham United will look to bounce back from successive heavy defeats on the road and boost their Premier League survival bid when they host Burnley at the London Stadium on Saturday.
da bet7k： A 2-0 victory at home to Watford last month gave the Irons some breathing space between them and the relegation zone, but two 4-1 losses on their travels against Liverpool and then Swansea City last weekend have left them just three points above the bottom three heading into their clash against the Clarets.
The latest reverse saw the Swans leapfrog the Hammers in the standings, and they remain in real danger of suffering relegation to the Championship unless they carry on picking up points in the next few weeks, as they lie just three points above 18th-placed Crystal Palace and 19th-placed Stoke City in the table.
Meanwhile, their opponents this weekend are flying high in seventh and picked up their first Premier League triumph since December 12 as they beat Everton 2-1 at Turf Moor last Saturday.
Despite their loss of form up until then, the Lancashire outfit still have the sixth best away record in the top flight and will be no pushover for David Moyes’ men, who will be looking for all three points ahead of a potentially tricky looking run-in.
The 56-year-old lined up with a 3-4-2-1 system in south Wales last weekend after playing a similar way against Liverpool, and the Scot will probably be thinking about changing back to a more familiar formation for this fixture on their own patch.
Moyes made three changes – two of which were enforced – from the side that were beaten 4-1 by Jurgen Klopp’s men for the game against Swansea last time out, and he will be considering making some more after labelling this game as the first of two in March that will define their season.
Here is how West Ham United must line up against Burnley on Saturday…
Defence
With Angelo Ogbonna missing because of illness and James Collins absent with injury, Moyes named a three-man defence of Declan Rice, Winston Reid and Aaron Cresswell at the Liberty Stadium.
The decision didn’t pay off as the Irons struggled from the off, and things got even worse when Reid was stretchered off with an injury that will keep him out for the rest of the season.
His replacement in that game, Sam Byram, also picked up an injury that could sideline him until the summer, and Moyes should look to revert to four at the back for the visit of Burnley.
With Pablo Zabaleta and Aaron Cresswell the full-backs, the Scottish boss will be hoping that Ogbonna is 100% ready to start, while Collins should return in place of Rice if he proves his fitness.
Midfield
Zabaleta and Patrice Evra lined up as wing-backs against Swansea with Mark Noble and Cheikhou Kouyate in the middle of the park, and the latter in particular put in a shocking display that needs to see him dropped against Burnley this weekend.
The Senegal international failed to show much discipline from a positional point of view and then gave away a penalty in the second period when he tripped former Hammer Andre Ayew in the penalty area, and his own fans are running out of patience with him.
Moyes should look to switch to a 4-2-3-1 system against the Clarets and partner Joao Mario – who was dropped to the substitutes’ bench for the first time since his January loan move against the Swans – with Noble in the centre of the midfield.
Attack
Moyes chose to drop Joao Mario and bring in the in-form Javier Hernandez to play ahead of Manuel Lanzini and Marko Arnautovic against Swansea, but it was another decision that failed to pay off as West Ham struggled from an attacking point of view all afternoon.
The Scottish boss will want to keep those three key players in his XI for the visit of Burnley though as he looks for the goals that will get his team a much-needed three points, and using a 4-2-3-1 system can help him do exactly that.
It would also allow him to bring Michail Antonio – who has scored in successive Premier League matches from the substitutes’ bench – into the team on the right-hand side the further boost the Irons’ attacking threat, which is a change the Irons fans want to see.
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