The West Ham XI Bilic must pick vs. Swansea

West Ham will look to pick up their third successive Premier League win when they face strugglers Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium later today.

It has been a disappointing season for the Irons and manager Slaven Bilic thus far, but consecutive 1-0 triumphs against Burnley and Hull City at the London Stadium – as well as a 2-2 draw at title-chasing Liverpool previously – have lifted the club up to 13th in the standings.

Hammers captain Mark Noble scored the winning goal in both of their last two successes which means that they are now five points above the relegation zone.

They travel to face a Swansea team who have endured a dismal campaign, and they are currently joint-bottom of the table – above Hull only on goal difference.

While they have scored one more goal than their opponents this Boxing Day, Bob Bradley’s men have conceded the most goals in the Premier League (37), and they will need to tighten up at the back if they are to avoid dropping down to the Championship.

Here is FootballFanCast’s West Ham XI that will pick up all three points in south Wales…

GK: Darren Randolph

Ever since his mistake in the 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield, the Republic of Ireland international has been brilliant between the sticks for the Irons.

Randolph made a world-class save to deny Jordan Henderson scoring in the same match, and then kept clean sheets in the wins against Burnley and Hull City – making a brilliant stop to deny Scott Arfield in the former, although he had his post to thank for the shutout in the latter as the Tigers hit the woodwork three times.

CB: Cheikhou Kouyate

In what has been a disappointing season for the Hammers, their defence would have been delighted to have picked up successive wins and clean sheets at the London Stadium – they have struggled to adapt to their new home thus far following their move in the summer.

Kouyate has certainly brought some composure and pace to the back three, and he could be in for a tough physical battle against tall Swansea striker Fernando Llorente.

CB: Winston Reid

Alongside Kouyate and Angelo Ogbonna, Reid has formed a strong back-three relationship with his two team-mates since Bilic decided to switch to a new formation, and, as we mentioned before, they would have taken a lot of confidence from picking up successive clean sheets.

While they have conceded the most goals in the Premier League, Swansea have shown they are a danger at the other end – they scored five in the 5-4 home win against Crystal Palace – and Reid will have to be on his game to get another shutout.

CB: Angelo Ogbonna

Now in his second season in England, Ogbonna is really starting to show the qualities that have seen him capped for Italy on 13 occasions.

The centre-back has become a regular in the West Ham defence and has put in a number of eye-catching performances this season, including helping the club keep a morale-boosting two clean sheets in a row, and he will look to help them pick up yet another shutout when they make the trip to Wales.

RWB: Michail Antonio

The winger is West Ham’s top goalscorer this season with seven Premier League efforts, and he simply has to start every match with the goal threat he provides – especially with strikers Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho scoring just twice between them this term.

Antonio has been asked to perform defensive duties in his new role as a wing-back, but he will be looking to punish a Swansea defence that has been breached on 37 occasions this season.

CM: Pedro Obiang

The Spaniard found first-team opportunities hard to come by under Slaven Bilic last season but since Cheikhou Kouyate made the move into defence when the Croatian manager decided to change his formation, Obiang has established himself in the team and formed a strong partnership alongside Mark Noble in the centre of the park.

He will have to keep a close check on the Swans’ Gylfi Sigurdsson in south Wales, with the Iceland international always capable of producing a moment of magic.

CM: Mark Noble

The Irons captain has really stepped up for the club and his manager in the last two matches, scoring the winning goals in the 1-0 triumphs against Burnley and Hull City.

He showed great composure to score the rebound after his penalty had been saved by the Clarets’ Tom Heaton, before he made no mistake from 12 yards against the Tigers.

While it may not be his usual role, Noble will look to provide that goal threat again for a side that has generally struggled for goals this term.

LWB: Aaron Cresswell

The England international continues to be one of West Ham’s main attacking threats, and as well as his defensive capabilities, he will be told to attack against a vulnerable Swansea defence this Boxing Day.

As mentioned before, with the Irons struggling for goals this season, they will need Cresswell to provide overlapping runs and support to the forwards if the club are to boost their goal tally – and there is no better venue to do that at the current time than at the Liberty Stadium.

RAM: Andre Ayew

Manuel Lanzini has been Bilic’s first-choice on the right side of the attack this season, but after failing to make much of an impact in recent weeks – and having been taken off at half-time in the win against Hull – he could be replaced by Ayew for the trip to Swansea.

Of course, there does seem to be a correlation between players scoring against their former club and the Ghana international will be keen to get his West Ham career up and running following a disrupted start to his time at the Irons.

LAM: Dimitri Payet

The attacking midfielder has come under scrutiny from some West Ham supporters after refusing to rule out a move away from the Irons in the French press, with the fans believing that he has been distracted by the speculation.

However, the France international continues to show how influential he can be to Bilic’s side – he created six chances in the 1-0 win against Hull last weekend, which was four more than any of his team-mates.

ST: Andy Carroll

Since the big striker returned from injury, West Ham have benefitted from having a focal point up top, and the likes of Aaron Cresswell, Michail Antonio and Dimitri Payet will be enjoying having a tall, physical attacker that they can pick out from crosses.

Carroll will certainly be looking to get on the scoresheet against the weakest defence in the league this Boxing Day to boost his goal tally and to provide some Christmas cheer for the travelling fans.