WEST HAM were struck down with a sickness bug ahead of tonight’s clash at Manchester City.
And that means David Moyes has named just five outfield subs.
Skipper Declan Rice as well as Tomas Soucek and Nayef Aguerd were all missing from the matchday squad when the team news dropped an hour before kick-off.
The trio would all have started the match against the reigning Premier League champions.
Rice had played every minute of West Ham’s 33 league games this season but was sent back to London this afternoon along with fellow midfielder Soucek and defender Aguerd.
Kurt Zouma is also out through injury.
READ MORE ON FOOTBALL
And their absences will be a crushing blow for David Moyes’ side.
To make matters worse, the Hammers only filled seven of the nine spots on the bench – and two of those were goalkeepers in Alphonse Areola and Joseph Anang.
Flynn Downes partners Lucas Paqueta in midfield while defenders Vladimir Coufal, Thilo Kehrer, Angelo Ogbonna, Aaron Cresswell and Emerson Palmieri start.
Cresswell captains the side hoping to cause a major upset.
Most read in Football
BETTING SPECIAL – BEST NO DEPOSIT CASINO OFFERS
City know they will return top of the table with a win, while the three points would virtually secure West Ham’s Premier League survival.
But they will have to try and do it without their influential stars.
Moyes told Sky Sports: “Unfortunately overnight three of the players took ill so we had to change it around.
“Hopefully it’s not too bad, the sickness.
“Obviously, we had named some of the players not here in the side.
“Two or three are unwell and there’s nothing we can do about it.
“It only happened today, we sent them home at 2pm.
“It was too late to bring any of the younger boys up.
“It was always going to be tough, we will try and make it as difficult as we can.
“Anything out of the game will be a bonus.”
Pundit Gary Neville added: “I’ve not had anything like that I can remember.
Read More on The Sun
“It happened to Tottenham [with Lasagna-gate in 2006].
“I had seen reports they were going to leave people out to rest them for other games but that’s not the case now.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
