Carabao Queen: West Ham and Bolton sharing the same dream

How to Watch

Date/time: Tuesday 19th September at 19:45 BST

Venue: London Stadium, London, UK

Referee: Simon Hooper

Assistant Referees: Adam Crysell & Akil Howson

Fourth Official: Graham Horwood

TV: Negative

Can I stream it somewhere?

Not from any reputable source but I hear Reddit can be magical this time of year...

Radio: BBC Radio London

Lineup Prediction

I believe we will finally get a strong showing from our youth squad tonight. Slaven Bilic, the man with nothing to lose, is putting his trust in the likes of Declan Rice, Nathan Holland, and Sead Haksabanovic.

Not many think Mark Noble will make an appearance but he is fit enough, and given the youth that will be running around the pitch, it makes sense to have your veteran leader around to marshal any wild ambition.

I expect Bilic will use this opportunity to give Arthur Masuaku another shot to show what he has as the younger, faster left back continues to nip the heels of Aaron Cresswell. Cressy hasn’t been playing very well as of late, most notable in the weekend draw against West Bromwich Albion, where his crossing game left much to be desired.

Sam Byram is most certainly going to see 90 minutes as the older and more experienced Pablo Zabaleta is still recovering.

Speaking of recovery, don’t expect to see Manuel Lanzini, Edimilson Fernandes, James Collins, and a few others as fitness and fatigue continue to play a factor.

Lastly, I expect to see Diafra Sakho given the nod on the top. Andy Carroll is surely encompassed in bubble wrap, only to be given leave on match day. Javier Hernandez, has seen plenty of action since the start of the season and could use a rest.

If I’m being honest with you, my excitement levels are through the roof to see Nathan Holland and Sead Haksabanovic. Holland was a showcase stud in preseason and played like a veteran among the starting XI. I’m really hoping that form continues on and he can prove he deserves a spot on first team squad.

The only real change I can see is if Cheikhou Kouyate or Pedro Obiang get into the midfield. Bilic said he wanted a strong side to be out there as he believes West Ham can and should be very competitive in this competition.

“It’ll be a strong side,” the Croatian confirmed. “It’s a big game for us and all we are thinking about. We are very ambitious, as are all the clubs still in the competition, and if you have a look at the round that was played a few weeks ago, most of the clubs were playing with good teams. OK, there were some changes, but mostly because you want to give the guys chance who are not playing regularly, but we are very ambitious, of course.

“We are playing home against Bolton and there are going to be some changes, but they are going to be the players who have already played for us in the Premier League this season and also last season.

“That game is all that I think about and we want to progress because you never know in a cup competition, with a little bit of luck with the draw and a few good games, you are there.”

Read more at https://www.whufc.com

Prediction

West Ham 3-0 Bolton

Phil Parkinson’s Bolton isn’t a team en fuego at the moment and so far have only amassed two points from their eight matches on the season. I’m not holding out a lot of hope for them to give the Hammers too much trouble. Should West Ham find themselves short of chances at the half, I expect the veterans to make a stronger showing in the last 30-45. However, I’m confident we’ll put out a good showing today.