West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo has made eight changes to the team to face Southampton tonight.

With it being the second round of the EFL Cup when we are focused on being promoted from the Championship, without context, you might expect wholesale changes.

But considering the embarrassment of Saturday and throwing a 2-0 lead away against Burnley the week before, we really need a win to get our confidence back.

However, maybe Nuno has done the right thing to get that win. The team on Saturday was full of too many players who aren’t fully committed, whether that be for transfer reasons or others. In this starting XI, you struggle to see any of those players.

The starting XI: Herrick; Veltman, Golambeckis, Kilman, Mayers; Orford, Kante, Mukasa; Ajala, Piroe, Lamadrid.

A huge eight changes have shocked the fanbase. Herrick over Areola is a huge surprise, maybe sending a message to the French keeper to seek a move away. However, a very exciting decision.

Veltman had to come in after looking promising so far. It’s great to see Golambeckis get a start; seeing him on the teamsheet alongside Kilman is worrying, though. Put your money on Mubama scoring against his old club.

With Diouf set to leave, it makes sense to start Mayers, with Scarles nailed on to start on Saturday. I would’ve liked to have seen Engels over Kante after his disaster first half on Saturday, but again he’s a nailed-on starter.

The attack could line up one of two ways; hopefully it’s a 4-2-3-1 formation with Ajala on the left, Lamadrid on the right, Mukasa in the ten, and obviously Piroe up front.

However, knowing Nuno, he will probably stick to his 4-4-2 with Ajala and Piroe up top, Lamadrid on the left, and Mukasa on the right. I don’t think that would be too bad; however, we must see Mukasa play in the 10 with a view to playing him there in the league if he plays well.

This obviously isn’t our best team, and we’re clearly not bothered about the cup. But it’s a young team, a lot of academy players, so it’s exciting to see how they play with the pressure off against a rotated Saints side.

Come on you Irons!