West Ham United will be looking to bounce back from Saturday's Premier League defeat at Arsenal when they take on Hull City in the third round of the EFL Cup on Tuesday night.
The Hammers have now lost both of their league matches this season, while Hull have recorded two wins from their two League One matches to occupy third position in the table.
Match preview
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West Ham were extremely disappointing in their 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United on the opening weekend of the 2020-21 Premier League season, but it would be fair to say that they were unfortunate to lose against Arsenal.
Indeed, the Hammers conceded a second in the 85th minute of the contest to lose 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium after Michail Antonio had cancelled out a 25th-minute opener from Alexandre Lacazette.
Head coach David Moyes will have been encouraged by what he saw against the Gunners, though, and West Ham were impressive in the last round of the EFL Cup, recording a 3-0 home win over Charlton Athletic.
Sebastian Haller scored a brace in the previous round, while Felipe Anderson was also on the scoresheet, and the capital outfit will be the favourites to advance into the fourth round on Tuesday night.
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Hull, meanwhile, have already played five times across three separate competitions this season and have made an encouraging start, putting four victories on the board.
The Tigers lost to Leicester City's Under-21s in the EFL Trophy but have beaten Sunderland and Leeds United on penalties in the EFL Cup to progress to the third round.
Grant McCann's side - relegated from the Championship last season - have also been victorious in both of their League One games this term, overcoming Gillingham on September 12 before beating Crewe Alexandra on Saturday afternoon courtesy of a late goal from Mallik Wilks.
Hull will view their next league game away to Northampton Town as the priority, but they beat West Ham 2-1 when the two teams last locked horns in the Premier League back in April 2017.
West Ham EFL Cup form: W
West Ham form (all competitions): LWL
Hull EFL Cup form: WW
Hull form (all competitions): WLWWW
Team News
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West Ham boss Moyes could decide to select the exact same XI from the last round against Charlton, with Haller, who is behind Antonio in the pecking order at the club, again leading the line.
Manuel Lanzini, Anderson and Andriy Yarmolenko are all out of favour when it comes to the Premier League, but the trio started against Charlton and should again be handed places in the side here.
There are also expected to be starting roles for Robert Snodgrass and Josh Cullen, while Xande Silva was on the bench in the last round and could be involved in this clash.
As for Hull, McCann is likely to make alternations from the team that started against Crewe in the league on Saturday, but the bulk of the XI could remain in place.
Indeed, Wilks started the last round against Leeds and should continue in the team, while George Honeyman and Keane Lewis-Potter should also feature for the visitors.
Daniel Batty, Callum Jones and Lewie Coyle were all unused substitutes in the league on Saturday but should come into the starting team for Tuesday's clash at the London Stadium.
West Ham possible starting lineup:
Randolph; Johnson, Balbuena, Diop, Masuaku; Snodgrass, Cullen; Anderson, Lanzini, Yarmolenko; Haller
Hull possible starting lineup:
Ingram; Coyle, Jones, McLoughlin, Elder; Doherty, Batty; Scott, Honeyman, Lewis-Potter; Wilks
We say: West Ham 3-1 Hull
West Ham's second-string XI is full of quality and proved far too strong for Charlton in the last round. Hull have started the 2020-21 campaign in impressive form, but we are struggling to look past the Hammers, who should have more than enough on the night to progress to round four.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:curl
Matt Law
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 46.52%. A win for Hull City had a probability of 28.99% and a draw had a probability of 24.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a West Ham United win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.37%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.34%) and 2-0 (7.6%). The likeliest Hull City win was 0-1 (7.11%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.52%). The actual scoreline of 5-1 was predicted with a 0.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that West Ham United would win this match.
