Danny Ings will make his full West Ham United debut as one of four changes for our Premier League fixture with Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon.
The 30-year-old striker is set for a place in the starting XI for the first time since joining the Club in January, with Saïd Benrahma, Paquetá, and Ben Johnson the other changes from the Hammers’ 2-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.
Although not named in the starting XI at Spurs, Benrahma and Paquetá make consecutive home starts, while Johnson, who has not featured in a Premier League starting XI since a 2-0 win over AFC Bournemouth in October last year, also returns to the eleven.
As a result, Michail Antonio, Thilo Kehrer, Emerson and Flynn Downes are the four players to make way, with the quartet part of a strong matchday squad.
Searching for a three-game unbeaten run on home soil, a shift in formation sees Johnson, Angelo Ogbonna, Nayef Aguerd and Vladimír Coufal line up in front of Łukasz Fabiański. Ogbonna makes his 220th appereance in Claret & Blue.
There is a milestone for skipper Declan Rice, too, in the Hammers third home fixture in 2023. He will make his 225th senior appearance for West Ham United, six years after his first-team debut came in a 2-1 win over Burnley in 2016/17.
The England midfielder will be partnered by Tomáš Souček and the recalled Paquetá. The Brazil midfielder seeks his third goal in Claret and Blue, while the Czech is set for his 135th appearance at West Ham United.
An attacking line-up in front of the home support sees Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen on either side of Ings. The 30-year-old forward has two goals against Forest, previously striking a brace in Burnley’s 2-1 win over the Reds in the EFL Cup in 2013/14, and will hope to repeat the feat today.
Ings’ inclusion means that Antonio, with four Premier League goal contributions to his name in 2022/23, will drop to the bench. The No9, who joined the Hammers from Forest in September 2015, seeks his first goal against his former club.
Looking to feature for the first time since scoring in the Irons 2-2 draw away to Leeds United in January, Gianluca Scamacca is another option for David Moyes from the substitutes’ bench, which also seats Pablo Fornals, Downes, Kehrer and Emerson.
Goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, Aaron Cresswell and Manuel Lanzini complete the matchday squad. The Argentine seeks his first Premier League involvement since appearing as a substitute in the 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace in November.
West Ham United: Fabiański, Coufal, Ogbonna, Aguerd, Johnson, Rice ©, Paquetá, Souček, Bowen, Benrahma, Ings
Subs: Areola (GK), Cresswell, Scamacca, Fornals, Antonio, Lanzini, Downes, Kehrer, Emerson
Nottingham Forest: Navas, Williams, Worrall ©, Felipe, Lodi, Freuler, Shelvey, Colback, Gibbs-White, Johnson, Wood
Subs: Hennessey (GK), Mangala, Danilo, Scarpa, Toffolo, Lingard, Ayew, Dennis, Surridge
Referee: Jarred Gillett
