Mark Noble arrives at London Stadium for his final home game

Team News: Noble starts on bench, Souček returns

Mark Noble starts his final home match as a West Ham United player on the substitutes’ bench.

The midfielder, who will retire at the end of this season, will have to wait to make his 549th appearance in Claret and Blue and bid a fond and emotional farewell to his adoring fans at London Stadium.

Otherwise, David Moyes makes just one change to his starting XI for the Premier League visit of Manchester City, with Tomáš Souček restored to the team in place of the injured Saïd Benrahma.

The Algerian suffered an unfortunate ankle injury after scoring two goals in the Hammers’ 4-0 win at Norwich City last weekend and is unavailable to face Pep Guardiola’s title-chasers.

So, Łukasz Fabiański starts in goal behind a back four of Vladimír Coufal, Craig Dawson – who has recovered from the knock he took to his hip at Carrow Road – Kurt Zouma and Aaron Cresswell.

Souček will anchor the midfield alongside captain Declan Rice, with Lanzini moving into a more advanced role.

The No10, who scored a sensational goal in the reverse Premier League fixture at Manchester City in late November, will form part of an attacking midfield three alongside Pablo Fornals and leading scorer Jarrod Bowen, who debuted against the same opposition in February 2020.

Michail Antonio will lead the forward line.

With Benrahma ruled out, U23s winger Armstrong Okoflex is drafted into the matchday squad.

He is joined on the substitutes’ bench by Noble, Alphonse Areola, Ben Johnson, Ryan Fredericks, Alex Král, Arthur Masuaku, Nikola Vlašić and Andriy Yarmolenko.

For Manchester City, Aymeric Laporte and Fernandinho have recovered from the injuries they suffered at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday evening and both start.

Guardiola makes two changes from that game, bringing in Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish in place of Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling, who drop to the bench.

 

West Ham United: Fabiański, Coufal, Dawson, Zouma, Cresswell, Rice ©, Souček, Bowen, Lanzini, Fornals, Antonio
Subs: Areola (GK), Johnson, Fredericks, Král, Noble, Masuaku, Okoflex, Vlašić, Yarmolenko

 

Manchester City: Ederson, João Cancelo, Laporte, Fernandinho ©, Zinchenko, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Grealish, Gabriel Jesus
Subs: Steffen (GK), Aké, Egan-Riley, Mbete, Gündoğan, Lavia, Sterling, Foden, Palmer

 

Referee: Anthony Taylor

 

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