Having managed to avoid the giant killing of all giant killings in the FA Cup, West Ham United return to Premier League action with the visit of Watford to the London Stadium on Tuesday.
The Hammers needed extra time to see off Kidderminster Harriers 2-1 on Saturday, while Roy Hodgson's life at Vicarage Road began with a goalless stalemate away to Burnley.
Match preview
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Talk about a heartbreaking way to exit one of the most prestigious competitions in football - Kidderminster Harriers did the non-league landscape proud as they pushed West Ham all the way at Aggborough, even going into half time 1-0 up thanks to Alex Penny's finish.
However, David Moyes called upon the cavalry in the second 45, and it only just paid off as Declan Rice produced a striker's finish to level the scores and force extra time in the dying embers before Jarrod Bowen's controversial winner in the 121st minute of the contest.
West Ham may be the ones with their ball in the pot for the next round, but Moyes and the travelling party would have been less than impressed with what they witnessed for the majority of the contest, as a number of second-string players failed to repay their manager's faith in them.
Victory at Kidderminster did at least end a two-game losing run for the Hammers, whose Champions League destiny is now out of their own hands as they now find themselves fifth in the Premier League table - one point behind Manchester United having played a game more.
With Arsenal also applying the pressure, West Ham would choose no better time to produce another goal-laden performance at the London Stadium, as they have scored at least two goals in each of their last four Premier League games on home turf.
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While the FA Cup took centre stage during the first weekend of February, relegation candidates Watford and Burnley demonstrated exactly why they are battling to avoid the demotion to the second tier after playing out a drab goalless stalemate in torrid conditions at Turf Moor.
In what was described as a "baptism of fire" by returning veteran Hodgson, Watford managed to record their first clean sheet of the Premier League season at the 21st attempt, with Wout Weghorst and Maxwel Cornet unable to start their exciting partnership on the right foot for Burnley.
It is now 10 games without victory in the top flight for the Hornets, though, as they enter the midweek round of fixtures still below the dotted line in 18th, although Norwich City are only one point clear of Hodgson's men having played a game more.
A positive result at the London Stadium would therefore throw the cat amongst the Canaries following their rise to safety, and only 15 of the 40 goals Watford have conceded in the league this term have come away from home, giving Hodgson some relatively solid foundations to build on.
West Ham ran out comfortable 4-1 winners at Vicarage Road during the two teams' first meeting of the season, which marked the Hammers' fourth successive victory over the London rivals, during which they have scored at least three goals in each dominant success.
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Team News
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West Ham will hope to welcome Michail Antonio back to the starting lineup following his late return from international duty, but Angelo Ogbonna continues to recover from knee surgery.
First-choice goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was not involved against Kidderminster a couple of weeks on from returning a positive COVID-19 test, although he ought to be fine to displace Alphonse Areola in between the sticks here.
Moyes will not hesitate to demote some under-performing players from the weekend to the bench here, with Alex Kral and Andriy Yarmolenko among them as Craig Dawson, Tomas Soucek and Pablo Fornals return.
The hosts have also been handed scares with Arthur Masuaku (knee) and Manuel Lanzini (calf), and Kurt Zouma will surely not be considered for selection after a shocking video emerged of the centre-back hitting and kicking his pet cat.
As for Watford, Emmanuel Dennis will make a timely return from suspension to lead the line for Watford, with one of Joao Pedro or Ken Sema now set to make way.
Peter Etebo has a slight chance of returning from his thigh problem in time to make the squad, but Kwadwo Baah and Nicolas Nkoulou remain in the treatment room, and AFCON-winning winger Ismaila Sarr will not return just yet.
Hodgson is unlikely to make too many alterations to his XI after a solid start to life in the dugout, but Tom Cleverley and ex-Hammer Jeremy Ngakia could provide fresh legs if needed.
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Fabianski; Coufal, Dawson, Diop, Cresswell; Rice, Soucek; Bowen, Fornals, Benrahma; Antonio
Watford possible starting lineup:
Foster; Femenia, Cathcart, Samir, Kamara; Kucka, Kayembe, Sissoko; King, Dennis, Sema
We say: West Ham United 2-0 Watford
An unexpected Watford victory certainly cannot be ruled out here, although West Ham are sure to revert to their strongest XI after the fringe players were nearly embarrassed by Kidderminster.
Hodgson has already placed a greater emphasis on defensive solidity at Vicarage Road, but Moyes's side should reignite their European charge with all three points here.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a West Ham United win with a probability of 55.55%. A draw had a probability of 24% and a win for Watford had a probability of 20.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a West Ham United win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.21%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.4%) and 2-1 (9.69%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.38%), while for a Watford win it was 0-1 (6.68%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 12.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for West Ham United in this match and our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted the win for West Ham United.
