A trio of West Ham United’s 2022 FIFA World Cup-bound stars are included in an unchanged Premier League starting XI for Leicester City at London Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Declan Rice, Lucas Paquetá and Thilo Kehrer – who will represent England, Brazil and Germany respectively – all feature as the starting XI that faced Crystal Palace also line-up in the Irons’ final Premier League fixture before the mid-season break.
Morocco’s Nayef Aguerd and France’s Alphonse Areola are also included in the matchday squad as the Irons look to stretch an unbeaten run against Leicester City to five matches.
As Łukasz Fabiański has in each of our previous 14 Premier League fixtures, the former Poland shot-stopper starts between the sticks for the Foxes’ trip to east London.
Kehrer will be joined by Kurt Zouma, Craig Dawson and vice-skipper Aaron Cresswell to face Brendan Rodgers’ men, who – like the Hammers – have taken 14 points from as many matches played ahead of Saturday’s meeting.
Seeking to bounce back after two home defeats – to Crystal Palace in the Premier League and Blackburn Rovers in the Carabao Cup – David Moyes names a trusted midfield duo of Tomáš Souček and skipper Declan Rice, alongside Paquetá.
Looking for his seventh goal in all competitions in 2022/23, Gianluca Scamacca leads the line and will be supported by Jarrod Bowen and Saïd Benrahma – the latter is looking to strike in three consecutive home league matches.
Emerson has recovered from a broken nose to be part of the matchday squad for the Foxes, with defenders Ben Johnson, Vladimír Coufal, Angelo Ogbonna and Aguerd – alongside Areola – also included.
Midfielders Flynn Downes, Manuel Lanzini, and Pablo Fornals complete the options available to David Moyes.
West Ham United: Fabiański, Kehrer, Dawson, Zouma, Cresswell, Rice ©, Souček, Bowen, Paquetá, Benrahma, Scamacca
Subs: Areola (GK), Johnson, Coufal, Fornals, Lanzini, Downes, Ogbonna, Aguerd, Emerson
Leicester City: Ward, Castagne, Faes, Amartey, Thomas, Soumaré, Maddison, Tielemans ©, Dewsbury-Hall, Barnes, Daka
Subs: Iversen (GK), Evans, Mendy, Praet, Ndidi, Albrighton, Pérez, Vardy, Iheanacho
Referee: Jarred Gillett
