West Ham United entertain Burnley on Saturday eight months after the angry protests marred last season’s fixture.
After turning their season around in some style with wins over Everton and Manchester United and a fine draw against Chelsea West Ham have struggled since.
There were signs Manuel Pellegrini’s side were back on track against Leicester City last time out in the league.
A desperately unfortunate deflected last gasp equaliser denied West Ham a heroic win having played with 10 men for an hour.
A Premier League-worst injury list have decimated Pellegrini’s squad and options.
But a meek surrender in the League Cup against Spurs last time out has left the Chilean fed up as he insisted there were ‘no positives’ to take from the defeat (Sky Sports).
Despite a lack of options, Pellegrini looks set to make sweeping alterations to the side for the visit or Burnley with as many as six changes to the team which started against Tottenham in midweek.
Lukasz Fabianski in for Adrian
Adrian hardly covered himself in glory on a rare outing for the Hammers with some poor kicking and general hesitation in his play. Fabianski is on course to be the Hammer of the Year and is probably the first name on Pellegrini’s teamsheet at present. A no-brainer if ever there was one.
Pablo Zabaleta in for Ryan Fredericks
Fredericks looked a lot better against Spurs but Pablo Zabaleta is Pellegrini’s first choice right back and after a week’s rest will come back into the side to face Burnley.
Fabian Balbuena in for Angelo Ogbonna
Roundly criticised for a terrible performance against Spurs, Angelo Ogbonna looks on borrowed time at West Ham. The Italian was at fault for two goals and looks extremely rusty. Balbuena will come straight back in after forging a superb partnership with young Issa Diop in central defence.
Aaron Cresswell in for Arthur Masuaku
Arthur Masuaku is an absolute liability as a left-back as was proved once again on Wednesday night. Cresswell has been a shadow of his former self for some time. But he is definitely more reliable defensively and should come back in.
Robert Snodgrass in for Michail Antonio
This will not need explaining to anyone who witnessed Michail Antonio’s latest dreadful performance on Wednesday night. Snodgrass is much loved by Hammers fans having turned his West Ham career around through sheer hard work and determination and his quality on the ball will be much-needed.
Marko Arnautovic in for Javier Hernandez
Literally no explanation needed. Hernandez was woeful against Tottenham and Arnautovic is West Ham’s talisman.
Predicted West Ham XI to face Burnley
Fabianski, Zabaleta, Diop, Balbuena, Cresswell, Obiang, Rice, Snodgrass, Anderson, Diangana, Arnautovic.
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