(Photo by Adam Davy/Pool via Getty Images)
Birthday boy Declan Rice leads West Ham United out on his 24th birthday and will make his 220th senior appearance at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Eight players retained from West Ham’s 1-0 win over Brentford in the Emirates FA Cup third round last weekend, with Vladimír Coufal, Pablo Fornals and vice-skipper Aaron Cresswell the three changes .
Coufal will line up in defence alongside Cresswell, who is set for a 315th appearance in Claret & Blue, Nayef Aguerd, on his second Premier League start, and vice-skipper Angelo Ogbonna.
Behind that quartet will be Łukasz Fabiański, who retains his spot in the West Ham United net. After moving to within one of the milestone at Brentford last weekend, the former Poland stopper seeks his 40th clean sheet for the Irons.
Seeking a third straight win over those in Old Gold– and a fifth in the last six fixtures between the two sides – Michail Antonio leads the line.
The No9 will be supported by Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen. Tomáš Souček, who netted the winner against Wolves at London Stadium in 27 Feb 2022, is retained and will partner Rice and Lucas Paquetá in midfield.
With Coufal and Cresswell returning in defence, Craig Dawson, who started West Ham’s win in Brentford last weekend, is not available as was confirmed by David Moyes in his pre-match press conference on Friday, although Kurt Zouma returns to the matchday squad.
West Ham United: Fabiański, Coufal, Aguerd, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice (c), Souček, Bowen, Paquetá, Fornals, Antonio
Subs: Randolph (GK), Benrahma, Downes, Johnson, Kehrer, Lanzini, Emerson, Scamacca, Zouma
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Sá, Semedo, Collins, Kilman, Bueno, Moutinho, Neves (c), Hwang, Nunes, Podence, Cunha
Subs: Sarkic (GK), Aït-Nouri, Lemina, Jiménez, Jonny, Toti, A. Traoré, Hodge, Campbell
Referee: Simon Cooper