The David Moyes era at West Ham begins today, with a difficult fixture at Vicarage Road to take on Marco Silva’s high flying Watford side.

As the Slaven Bilic’s reign ended in a 4-1 defeat to Liverpool before the international break, the Scot is the one to succeed him and try to see if he can take the club out of the relegation zone, as the Hammers are currently in 18th place.

Thankfully for Moyes, Winston Reid is ready to start after his long journeys for his country New Zealand in their World Cup qualifying playoff tie vs Peru. But Javier Hernandez, Michail Antonio and Jose Fonte join James Collins as being out.

For an exciting Watford side, their physical captain Troy Deeney is suspended. He joins Sebastian Prodl, Younes Kaboul and Nathaniel Chalobah as being out and serving as breaks for Moyes in his Hammers opener. But the Hammers still will be tested with the likes of Roberto Pereyra, Andre Carrillo and Christian Kabasele available for the Hornets. But Carrillo and Reid could face each other again, just as they did over the last week in Peru defeating New Zealand to reach the World Cup.

How will the new manager’s opening match with the Hammers (and 500th Premier League match managing) go? Will it be the start to a good rest of the season for West Ham? Or will it be a season long struggle continuing to unfold in front of our eyes?

The trip to Watford serves as a good barometer of how the rest of the way could go to holiday time. Let’s all find out and see what will happen.

LINEUPS