West Ham United: closing in on £49million move for Borussia Dortmund Striker

Starting XI | Todibo and Füllkrug make Carabao Cup debuts, Fabiański hits landmark against AFC Bournemouth

Jean-Clair Todibo and Niclas Füllkrug make their Carabao Cup debuts in West Ham United’s second-round tie against AFC Bournemouth on Wednesday evening.

The French defender and German striker both make their first starts for the Club at London Stadium, having made impacts off the bench in the Hammers’ opening two Premier League matches.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Crysencio Summerville will also make their full West Ham debuts after joining the Club earlier this month from Manchester United and Leeds United respectively.

Indeed, Head Coach Julen Lopetegui has rotated his squad as expected, with only four of the players who started against Crystal Palace in the Spaniard’s starting XI this evening.

Łukasz Fabiański, James Ward-Prowse and Edson Álvarez are the other changes from the Hammers’ 2-0 win at Selhurst Park.

Goalkeeper Fabiański is set to make his 200th appearance between the sticks, and his first since starting the Irons’ Premier League defeat at Crystal Palace on 21 April.

Ahead of Fabiański, Wan-Bissaka and Vladimír Coufal start at right-back and left-back respectively, either side of Maximilian Kilman and Todibo in central defence.

In midfield, Mexico international Álvarez makes his first start of the season, after recovering from a hamstring injury to feature from the substitutes’ bench against Palace at the weekend

Álvarez is partnered in the middle by James Ward-Prowse, who also makes his first start of the 2024/25 campaign after an impressive debut campaign in Claret and Blue.

Captain Jarrod Bowen could start on the right, as he did against Palace, with Tomáš Souček filling the No10 position and Summerville on the left wing.

Füllkrug, who scored 16 goals for Borussia Dortmund last season, including scoring the decisive goal in BVB’s 1-0 semi-final first leg win against Paris St-Germain, looks for his first in Hammers colours as he leads the line in east London.

A strong bench is named too by Lopetegui, with seasoned internationals Lucas Paquetá, Mohammed Kudus, Michail Antonio, Emerson, Guido Rodríguez and Dinos Mavropanos to call upon. Wes Foderingham, Andy Irving and Luis Guilherme complete the matchday squad.

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