West Ham are looking to leapfrog Arsenal and move into the Champions League places. Norwich will seek to climb out of last place. All the pre-game talking points and predictions are right here!
West Ham United and Norwich City return to English Premier League (EPL) action at the London Stadium on Tuesday night, after both booking their spots in the FA Cup fourth round.
David Moyes’s outfit brushed Leeds United aside 2-0 at the weekend, while the Canaries of Norwich ended up 1-0 victors at League One, Charlton Athletic.
West Ham will temporarily rise above Arsenal into the UEFA Champions League places with at least a point against Dean Smith’s Canaries, but at the time of writing, Tottenham Hotspur are only one point behind the Hammers, having played two matches fewer.
Norwich are now one point adrift of 19th-placed Newcastle United, rock bottom of the EPL table, and three points away from safety. It’s no surprise that their tally of three away goals is the worst in the league.
West Ham forward, Saïd Benrahma, is playing for Algeria at the Africa Cup of Nations, but Moyes has no new injury worries to deal with, following the FA Cup weekend.
Czech Republic defender, Vladimír Coufal, apparently has a decent chance of recovering from illness in time for this fixture. If, however, the 29-year-old can’t feature, then Ben Johnson and DRC’s Arthur Masuaku are sure to play as the full-backs.
For the visitors, Todd Cantwell has come down with an undisclosed illness but could be leaving Norwich anyway. Whilst Milot Rashica and Teemu Pukki are set to return in attack over Christos Tzolis and Kieran Dowell.
The Canaries have been hopeless in general, but have been especially dire on the road this season. Meanwhile, the Hammers have had a great start to 2022, which we can see continuing here. Our prediction is 2-0 to Moyes’ team, with the net found in each half.
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Fabiański; Coufal, Dawson, Diop, Masuaku; Rice, Souček; Bowen, Lanzini, Fornals; Antonio
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Krul; Aarons, Hanley, Gibson, Williams; McLean, Sørensen, Lees-Melou; Sargent, Pukki, Rashica
