West Ham United will resume their preparations for the 2021-22 campaign with a pre-season friendly against Leyton Orient at the Breyer Group Stadium on Tuesday evening.
The Hammers will actually play twice on the same night, with head coach David Moyes splitting his squad in two, with the other half due to take on Northampton Town at the Sixfields Stadium.
Match preview
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Orient opened their preparations for next season with a 3-0 loss to Dundee on July 6, and the League Two outfit now have two tough fixtures against Premier League opposition to come, facing West Ham on Tuesday before taking on Tottenham Hotspur on July 17.
The O's have two more confirmed friendlies in the diary for this month, facing Maidenhead United on July 24 before taking on Gillingham on July 31.
Orient will open their League Two campaign against Salford City on August 7, and the club's supporters will be hoping that the team's poor finish to last season is well and truly behind them.
Indeed, the London club ended last term with four straight league defeats, but there has been a change at the helm, with Kenny Jackett now in charge, having replaced interim manager Jobi McAnuff.
Orient have been relatively busy in terms of the transfer market, with Connor Wood, Darren Pratley, Paul Smyth, Omar Beckles, Aaron Drinan and Harry Smith all joining the club, and more new players are expected to arrive before the window closes.
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West Ham, meanwhile, opened their preparations for the new season with a 2-2 draw against Scottish outfit Dundee on Friday.
The Hammers actually fell 2-0 behind in the friendly, with Charlie Adam and Paul McMullan finding the back of the net, but Jamal Baptiste and Jarrod Bowen struck to level the scores for the Premier League club.
As mentioned, Moyes will split his squad in half for this match, with the other half travelling to face Northampton on the same night, but it is unclear which players will be involved in which fixture.
West Ham have two more friendlies in the diary for later this month, taking on Reading and Celtic, but they are expected to play at least one more pre-season match between the clash with Celtic on July 24 and their Premier League opener with Newcastle United on August 15.
An excellent 2020-21 campaign saw the Hammers finish sixth in the Premier League, which has seen them claim a Europa League spot for the coming season.
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Team News
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Orient boss Jackett gave five academy players opportunities to impress against Dundee, while four of his summer signings - Pratley, Wood, Smyth and Drinan - were also involved.
Pratley, who sported the captain's armband, lined up in the middle of the defence, and a similar side could take to the field for the first whistle here before wholesale changes are made at the break.
Shadrach Ogie was a second-half substitute against Dundee, but the 19-year-old could now be handed a starting role, as Jackett looks to make full use of his squad once again.
As for West Ham, it is not yet clear which group of players will be selected for this match, with the Hammers also taking on Northampton on the same night.
Moyes is expected to have a mixture of youth and experience in both squads, with Xande Silva and Nathan Holland among those hoping to make strong impressions during pre-season.
Manuel Lanzini and Michail Antonio could also potentially both be involved, but Felipe Anderson might be left out, as the attacker is thought to be closing in on a move to Lazio.
Head To Head
Tuesday's clash will be the 30th fixture between the London rivals in all competitions, and West Ham lead the head-to-head record 20 victories to Orient's five, while the remaining four matches have finished level.
The pair have not actually locked horns in a competitive fixture since January 1987, when West Ham ran out 4-1 winners in the FA Cup, while Orient's last win over the Hammers was back in December 1978.
We say: Leyton Orient 1-2 West Ham United
Orient are certainly capable of making this a difficult match for the Hammers, and it is currently unclear what group of players will be available for the Premier League club. That said, we are still expecting Moyes's side to put a win on the board, as they should have too much quality for the League Two side.
Matt Law
