David Moyes has named his West Ham United starting XI to face ACF Fiorentina in the 2023 UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) final.
The Scot makes two changes from the team which beat AZ Alkmaar 1-0 in the Netherlands three weeks ago to secure the Irons’ place in their first major European final in 47 years, taking place at the Eden Aréna in Prague, Czechia.
Full-backs Vladimír Coufal and Emerson are the players who come into the side, with the Czech Republic international taking his place at right-back on home turf at the stadium he called home for two seasons with SK Slavia Prague.
The 30-year-old is joined in the starting XI by compatriot, fellow former Slavia favourite and Czech national-team captain Tomáš Souček.
Behind them, Alphonse Areola completes the set of 15 UECL starts this season and becomes the Club’s outright record European appearance-holder with 26. The France goalkeeper has kept seven clean sheets and conceded just eight goals in West Ham’s 14-match unbeaten run to the final.
In defence, Coufal is joined by Kurt Zouma, Nayef Aguerd and Emerson.
For Zouma, this is his second major European final, but his first appearance in one, since he was an unused substitute for Chelsea in their 2021 UEFA Champions League final win over Manchester City in Porto. Emerson, who is named as one of the Irons’ 12 substitutes, was also on the bench for the Blues that night.
In midfield, Souček is joined by familiar faces in captain Declan Rice and Paquetá.
Hammer of the Year Rice leads his team out on his 245th appearance in a West Ham shirt. The 24-year-old has played ten times on the road to Prague, scoring a sensational solo goal in the quarter-final second-leg win over KAA Gent at London Stadium.
He becomes just the third player, after Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds, to captain the Hammers in a major European final, and can become just the second after fellow England international Moore to lift a major European trophy, should West Ham win.
Paquetá has also played ten times and scored once in the UECL this season. The Brazilian was also on target against Gent at home, scoring the penalty which put the Irons ahead on the night and on course for a 5-2 aggregate victory.
The forward line is also familiar, with Jarrod Bowen and Saïd Benrahma flanking Michail Antonio.
The trio have combined to score 15 of West Ham’s 33 European goals this season, with Jamaica international Antonio leading the way with seven. Bowen has five and Benrahma three.
The same forwards are also West Ham’s top three all-time European goalscorers, with Antonio on nine, Bowen on eight and Benrahma tied with Johnny Byrne and David Cross on six.
The substitutes’ bench comprises 12 players, including two players who have been in Champions League final squads in Thilo Kehrer and Angelo Ogbonna, and three Academy of Football graduates in Ben Johnson, Divin Mubama and Freddie Potts.
The bench also includes the Club's longest-serving first-team squad member Aaron Cresswell, who would play for West Ham for the 332nd time if he is sent on.
West Ham United: Areola, Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson, Souček, Rice ©, Paquetá, Bowen, Benrahma, Antonio
Subs: Fabiański (GK), Johnson, Kehrer, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Downes, Potts, Lanzini, Cornet, Fornals, Mubama, Ings
ACF Fiorentina: Terracciano, Dodô, Milenković, Ranieri, Biraghi (c), Bonaventura, Amrabat, Mandragora, González, Jović, Kouamé
Subs: Cerofolini (GK), Saponara, Cabral, Ikoné, Terzić, Venuti, Martinez Quarta, Duncan, Bianco, Barak, Brekalo, Igor
Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain)
