Aaron Cresswell captains West Ham United in tonight’s Stateside Cup tie with Wolverhampton Wanderers in Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday evening.
The long-serving left-back, who signed a contract to extend his stay in east London to an eleventh season in the summer, will wear the captain’s armband as the Hammers play in the Sunshine State for the first time in our history.
Cresswell will be joined in defence by Vladimír Coufal, Dinos Mavropanos and Nayef Aguerd.
Coufal will play for the first time in pre-season after returning from his summer break last weekend, having played at UEFA Euro 2024 for the Czech Republic. Like the right-back, Greece centre-back Mavropanos is visiting the United States for the first time in his life.
Morocco international Aguerd completes the back four, with 39-year-old Łukasz Fabiański starting in goal behind them.
The midfield will be anchored by Academy of Football graduate Freddie Potts, who has returned to his parent club in pre-season after winning Player of the Year honours at EFL League One side Wycombe Wanderers last term.
James Ward-Prowse and Coufal’s compatriot Tomáš Souček, who is also visiting the United States for the first time, fill out the midfield three.
The wing positions go to Mohammed Kudus and Maxwel Cornet, with the Ghanaian seeking to build on his outstanding debut season in Claret and Blue, and the Ivorian hoping to reignite his own career after a frustrating couple of seasons following his summer 2022 transfer from Burnley.
Speaking of Burnley, former Clarets striker Danny Ings leads the line in Jacksonville. Ings celebrated his 32nd birthday on Tuesday, and is looking to show the quality that has seen him score 71 Premier League goals in his career.
Saturday evening’s Stateside Cup tie will see Head Coach Julen Lopetegui lead the Hammers against the club he coached to Premier League safety in the latter part of the 2022/23 season.
Among the players who were heavily involved under Lopetegui at Molineux was Maximilian Kilman, and the centre-back is named among the 15 substitutes who will be on the West Ham bench at EverBank Stadium.
Kilman will be joined by fellow summer signings Wes Foderingham and Luis Guilherme, as well as 2023 UEFA Europa Conference League winners Emerson, Kurt Zouma and Michail Antonio, last weekend’s matchwinner at Dagenham & Redbridge Andy Irving, and a host of Academy of Football prospects.
West Ham United: Fabiański, Coufal, Mavropanos, Aguerd, Cresswell ©, Potts, Ward-Prowse, Souček, Kudus, Cornet, Ings
Subs: Foderingham (GK), Herrick (GK), Kodua, Emerson, Zouma, Kilman, Casey, Orford, Kelly, Scarles, Irving, Luis Guilherme, Earthy, Marshall, Antonio
