Written by : Ciaran Judge | @ciaran_judge

West Ham face AFC Wimbledon on Saturday night in a Cup tie that will have those who still believe in the magic of the Cup sensing the possibility of a shock.

The game does have all the classic hallmarks: underdog at home, game under the flood lights, a tight atmospheric ground, narrative around the players or coaching staff (enter AFC Wimbledon Manager Wally Downes, who spent time with West Ham during the Allardyce years), underdog in terrible League form, and a patchy and hard to predict favourite.

AFC Wimbledon have not won a League Game since Boxing Day and find themselves bottom of League One, with their last two home games a 4-1 defeat against Barnsley and 3-0 defeat to Fleetwood an indication of the form Wimbledon are in. Goal scoring is an issue for the Dons who have only netted 22 goals in 29 League games so far this season.

West Ham enter the game as favourites but with Wimbledon at only 6/1 with some bookmakers, and West Ham having had wider odds than that for games against the higher echelon of the Premier League, there is a certain amount of belief that Wimbledon could cause an upset here. West Ham are in patchy form and have been most of the season. The behaviour of Marko Arnautovic has been a destabilising influence on the club, who were just starting to look up the table rather than over their shoulders for the first time since the much-troubled move to the London Stadium 2 and a half years ago. The two sides have played each other already this season in the League Cup and Wimbledon came within 7 minutes of forcing a penalty shootout in that game despite only having 10 men for a large portion of the game. Fortunately, West Ham ran out 3-1 winners on the night.

West Ham should have enough to coast into the 5th round, but in ties like this it is mentality which counts as much as skill. The form of the Underdog is irrelevant here; even if Wimbledon were on the back of 5 wins on the bounce, West Ham should still win, but the result will depend on two key components:

  1. The line-up

As is in vogue now, Premier League teams like to make as many changes as they can get away with in games like this, and invariably deliver a disjointed performance from a team full of youth team hopefuls and disgruntled senior pros who don’t normally make the first team. Fans will hope and pray Pellegrini plays a strong team here

  1. The Mentality

AFC Wimbledon have nothing to lose – they are going cheered on by a fervent crowd and will have the support of all the neutrals watching. West Ham must match the Lower League team for effort and then let their greater skill out last, over time. If West Ham start slowly or Wimbledon appear to be getting on top for any period, then West Ham will face a mountain to climb.

West Ham have the skill needed to win this, and two early goals for West Ham mean fans can enjoy our Saturday night and move on; and it goes without saying that the Hammers will be hoping that the Magic of the FA Cup has the night off.