Julen Lopetegui kicks off his tenure as West Ham United head coach by debuting Maximilian Kilman and Guido Rodriguez in Saturday’s Premier League opener against Aston Villa at the London Stadium.
The Spaniard picks the same team that retained the Betway Cup thanks to a 6-5 penalty shootout victory over RC Celta de Vigo last weekend, the team that finished that match was very different from the start in the XI.
The Hammers are aiming to get the best start to the new crusade in east London against Villa, who are preparing for their first UEFA Champions League season since 1983 under Unai Emery.
French foreigner Alphonse Areola is a starter and will get the blank sheet of the Premier League crusade in his 75th game with the Club.
Lopetegui is left with four defenders, with Vladimír Coufal, Dinos Mavropanos, Kilman and Emerson being in charge of stopping the visitors.
Argentine defensive midfielder Guido Rodriguez makes his first Premier League debut for us since arriving on a flexible transfer, having left Spanish club Real Betis. He will team up with Tomáš Souček and Lucas Paquetá, who scored a goal and lent a hand in their first pre-season game against Celta Vigo last time out.
Jarrod Bowen, who was named West Ham Club captain for the 2024/25 season on Thursday, scored West Ham’s first goal at the London Stadium since our 3-1 win over Luton Town in May, when he opened the scoring against Celta de Vigo.
The English winger, along with Ghanaian star Mohammed Kudus, will look to Michail Antonio, who is leading the line tonight.
On the bench, summer recruits Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Jean-Clair Todibo, Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Füllkrug are hoping to come in and get their first minutes in Claret and Blue. Former Aston Villa Danny Ings is among Lopetegui’s players on the bench, as are James Ward-Prowse, Andy Irving, Aaron Cresswell and Łukasz Fabiański.
Edson Alvarez is unavailable due to a hamstring injury, while Kurt Zouma is out of the squad after Lopetegui showed he could leave the club.
Nayef Aguerd, Maxwel Cornet, Freddie Potts and Luis Guilherme are fit but have been included for matchday 20, while Wes Foderingham is included in the final squad after travelling as the third goalkeeper.
West Ham United: Areola, Coufal, Mavropanos, Kilman, Emerson, Rodríguez, Souček, Paquetá, Bowen ©, Kudus, AntonioSubstitutes: Fabiański (GK), Cresswell, Todibo, Wan-Bissaka, Ward-Prowse, Irving, Summerville, Füllkrug, Ings
Aston Villa: Martínez, Cash, Konsa, Pau, Digne, McGinn © Tielemans, Onana, Rogers, Bailey, Watkins Substitutes: Gauci (GK), Diego Carlos, Maatsen, Nedeljkovic, Barkley, Buendía, Philogene, Ramsey, Durán
Referee: Tony Harrington
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