Burnley vs West Ham United Preview: Team News, Predicted lineups, Head to Head and Ones to watch

West Ham United look to continue their excellent start to the Premier League season at Burnley this weekend.

The Champions League chasing Hammers beat the current Champions of Europe, Chelsea, last weekend and have established themselves as one of the teams to beat.

And The Irons should be ready to go after David Moyes rested a number of his stars for Thursday’s Europa League defeat to Dinamo Zagreb.

Burnley, on the other hand, are looking to recover after a poor showing at Newcastle United last week, when Callum Wilson pounced to give the Magpies a 1-0 win.

Team News

Maxwel Cornet is a major doubt after picking up a thigh injury last week, after he was replaced early in the first half in The Clarets last game.

This should allow Matej Vydra the chance to come in to the starting 11 after replacing the Ivorian at Newcastle.

Ashley Barnes remains out and Ben Mee is a slight doubt after a shoulder problem but should be back to partner James Tarkowski.

The Hammers are without a number of key members of their back-line - Kurt Zouma, Angelo Ogbonna and Ben Johnson all guaranteed to be out.

Aaron Cresswell could return from his own injury but it remains unlikely.

Vladimir Coufal, Craig Dawson, Issa Diop and Arthur Masuaku will be the likely back four, with Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals back in the first 11.

Predicted Lineups

Burnley

Pope; Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor; Gudmundsson, Cork, Westwood, McNeil; Vydra, Wood.

West Ham United

Fabianski; Coufal, Diop, Dawson, Masuaku; Rice, Soucek; Benrahma, Fornals, Bowen; Antonio.

James Tarkowski

January is just around the corner and James Tarkowski is well and truly in the shop window as his contract enters the last six months.

West Ham are one of his rumoured admirers and the England international will be wanting to put on a dominant display in front of his potential new employers.

Strong in aerial duels defensively and a menace at the attacking end on set pieces, The Hammers will do well to keep him from getting his head on the ball.

Embed from Getty Images

He reads the game excellently on the ground too, and has a good range of passing too when he wins the ball back.

But he’s up against a formidable opponent who has had plenty of joy against him before.

Michail Antonio

It’s been a tough stretch of games for Michail Antonio, after starting the season well.

After six goals in his first nine games, he has failed to find the net in his past six appearances.

He will be hungry to get back on the score sheet and provide for his team again, after his assist against Chelsea last weekend.

Embed from Getty Images

He caused many issues for Mee and Tarkowski last season, with his movement and directness that the pair couldn’t deal with.

His speed and power matched with his finishing ability make him deadly, he just needs to get his confidence back up again.

Last time out...

Burnley 1-2 West Ham (03/05/21)

Michail Antonio’s double pushed West Ham closer to European qualification as the Hammers came from behind to beat Burnley.

Chris Wood’s penalty after 19 minutes had given The Clarets the lead but Antonio replied just two minutes later before turning the game on it’s head moments later.

Said Benrahma caused a number of problems, with Jesse Lingard running the show from midfield.

Embed from Getty Images

The second half was an open encounter, with counter attacking the name of the game.

West Ham could have wrapped it up late on but it wasn’t to be, as they moved up to fifth in the league while Burnley stayed 16th.