West Ham United play host to Crystal Palace at the London Stadium this afternoon, and David Moyes has a big decision to make.
David Moyes always seems to have selection dilemmas on his plate at West Ham, and that hasn’t changed for today’s Premier League clash with Crystal Palace.
The Hammers have won our last four games in a row in all competitions, with two of those victories coming in the league.
A win today would put us right in the mix in the race for the top seven, and we could be just three points adrift of fifth placed Newcastle by four o’clock this evening.
In order to get the win though, Moyes must drop Said Benrahma and replace him in the starting XI with Maxwel Cornet.
Even if Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus return to the team today, which I’m hoping they do, then the Englishman will probably start through the middle with the Ghana international taking up the right wing role.
With Tomas Soucek, James Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez likely to form the central midfield trio, that leaves one place out on the left wing up for grabs, and I think it should be Cornet’s time to shine…
Moyes must make big selection call for West Ham vs Crystal Palace
Cornet made a huge difference when he replaced the hapless Benrahma on Thursday night during our 1-0 Europa League win over TSC Backa Topola.
The Ivorian whipped in a beautiful cross for Soucek to head home late on in the match, and aside from that he showed real pace and intent – something that Benrahma seems to be totally devoid of right now.
The Algerian has zero confidence right now, never tries to beat his man and lacks the pace needed to run in behind the opposition’s backline.
Meanwhile, Cornet possesses blistering speed and we will need that kind of direct running today, if we are to cause Palace problems and break them down.
If Moyes doesn’t start the 27-year-old winger in place of Benrahma for West Ham against Crystal Palace today, after his fine cameo appearance on Thursday night, something is definitely not right between the Scot and the Ivory Coast international.
It would be a crazy decision to leave out Cornet when he’s actually riding high on confidence for once.
I expect either one of the two wingers to be sold in the January transfer window, and today’s starting lineup will give us a great indication as to which one could be out the door this winter.
