Team News: Masuaku returns at Wolves as Rice misses out

Arthur Masuaku in action against Wolves


Arthur Masuaku returns to the West Ham United team at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday night as manager David Moyes makes three changes to the side which faced Arsenal last time out.

Masuaku slots back in on the left-hand side after recovering from the knee injury which has kept him out of the team since early December.

The DR Congo man’s return comes as a boost to Moyes as he is forced to do without Declan Rice, who misses a Premier League game for the first time since the Hammers took on Southampton back in May 2019 due to a lateral knee ligament injury picked up on international duty.

Also coming back into the starting XI are skipper Mark Noble, who scored a stunning 25-yard goal the last time the Hammers won at Molineux in the Premier League, in August 2009, and Pablo Fornals.

Saïd Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen are on the bench after featuring from the start against the Gunners and provide Moyes with firepower among his substitutes.

Łukasz Fabiański lines up in goal, behind what looks to be a centre-back trio of Issa Diop, Craig Dawson and Aaron Cresswell.

Vladimír Coufal and Masuaku will likely start as wing-backs, with Noble and Tomáš Souček anchoring the midfield.

Jesse Lingard, fresh from featuring in all three England games of the March international break, will join Fornals in providing Michail Antonio in attack.

West Ham United: Fabiański, Diop, Dawson, Cresswell, Coufal, Noble (c), Souček, Masuaku, Fornals, Lingard, Antonio
Subs: Martin (GK), Trott (GK), Fredericks, Johnson, Balbuena, Alves, Benrahma, Bowen, Odubeko

Wolverhampton Wanderers: Patricio, Semedo, Coady (c), Saïss, Aït-Nouri, Dendoncker, Neves, Traoré, Neto, Podence, Willian José
Subs: Ruddy (GK), Hoever, Gibbs-White, Kilman, Otasowie, Marques, Richards, Vitinha, Silva

Referee: Michael Oliver