West Ham: Early team news claim emerges ahead of Frankfurt

West Ham could start with a back three in their Europa League semi-final first leg tie with Eintracht Frankfurt tonight, according to Daily Star journalist Paul Brown.

The Hammers host the German outfit in their first European semi-final for 46 years at the London Stadium, but David Moyes is preparing for the game with just one fit senior centre-back available.

It’s been a memorable first full season in the Europa League for the Londoners, but their defensive crisis is threatening to derail their hopes of winning a first major trophy since 1980.

Moyes has been dealing with the absence of Angelo Ogbonna since November, with the Italian set to miss the rest of the season with an ACL injury sustained against Liverpool.

But in recent weeks, Moyes’ centre-back options have become totally depleted, with Kurt Zouma and Issa Diop sustaining ankle problems in consecutive weeks, which leaves Craig Dawson as West Ham’s only centre-back available for the first leg clash with the Bundesliga side.

Against Chelsea on Sunday, Moyes decided to line up with a back three, starting Ben Johnson and Aaron Cresswell either side of Dawson.

And with little other choice ahead of tonight’s game, Brown reckons that the Hammers manager will stick with the same.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “He’s played a back three since the injury problems started, so I suspect that’s what he’ll do again. It did work ok against Chelsea, the three of them played quite well together.

“Johnson has surprised me as a makeshift centre-back, he’s actually been pretty good, but it all hinges on Dawson.”

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Changing the formation ahead of a game of such importance could be seen as a huge risk from Moyes,