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Football London
Football London
Sport
Tom Clark

Confirmed West Ham team news against Southampton as Moyes makes Areola and Yarmolenko decisions

David Moyes has made two changes to his West Ham team for this evening's fifth-round FA Cup clash with Southampton at St Mary's.

The manager has elected to make just two changes and both in the defensive thrid with Alphonse Areaol getting the nod in goal ahead of the regular league goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski and Issa Diop coming in for Aaron Cresswell.

With injuries to Vladimir Coufal, Ryan Fredericks, Arthur Masuaku, and Harrison Ashby ruling the quartet out, Moyes has elected to rest Aaron Cresswell for the tie and use Pablo Fornals in the left wing-back role.

Ahead of the defence the manager has stuck with Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice in the centre of the park with Mark Noble and Alex Kral both failing to make a compelling case to start in the previous round against Kidderminster Harriers.

There are no changes in the attacking third for West Ham with Said Benrahm and Nikola Vlasic both staying on the bench and Moyes sticking with Manuel Lanzini and Michail Antonio.

Despite concerns over the number of games he has played already this season, 36, and his injury record Moyes has opted to retain Antonio up front for the Hammers. The striker has only managed two goals in his last 19 games but the manager is confident he is on his way back to his best and capable of keeping himself fit for the upcoming challenges.

"I think Mich is in a far better place physically than he has been for a long, long time. He is in better condition, looking after himself which maybe comes with a bit of age and experience," Moyes said. "His record is probably about 20 Premier League games on average per season, so we've got to try and get him through more of them if we can."

Andriy Yarmolenko was back in training this week after missing the Wolves win on compassionate leave and the Ukrainian international is once again not involved in the matchday squad.

West Ham XI: Areola, Johnson, Zouma, Diop, Dawson, Fornals, Rice, Soucek, Lanzini, Bowen, Antonio

Subs: Randolph, Alese, Kral, Ekwah, Vlasic, Benrahma, Chesters, Okoflex, Perkins

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