West Ham United will be out for swift revenge in the Europa League against Olympiacos tonight.
While David Moyes has transformed the Hammers into a seasoned outfit on the continental stage, last month's 2-1 defeat in Greece ended their 17-match unbeaten run in Europe.
As a result, the Irons still have a stranglehold on first position in Group A, but are now level on points with German side Freiburg in second.
If the Greek giants take all three points back to their homeland tonight, they will leapfrog the Hammers into first position, outlining the importance of fielding a strong team.
West Ham team news vs Olympiacos
West Ham's defensive stalwart Kurt Zouma missed the 3-2 defeat against Brentford on Saturday after failing a late fitness test and Moyes confirmed in his pre-match press conference that he was absent from the main training session at Rush Green on Wednesday, but did train separately.
He said: "We’re still waiting on Kurt. He didn’t train [with the main group] this morning. He’s done a bit inside and we'll have a look tomorrow and see how he is."
Whilst the Frenchman is touch and go this evening, the Scotsman does have Lucas Paqueta and Edson Alvarez back in contention after the pair missed the defeat against the Bees through suspension.
That said, while Moyes could persist with Tomas Soucek – who was subpar against Thomas Frank's men – there is a case to be made to unleash Alvarez back into the starting XI instead.
The Czech Republic brute won none of his ten duels, had zero tackles, completed zero dribbles and lost possession nine times last time out, as per Sofascore, hence the need for a possible midfield tweak.
Tomas Soucek vs Edson Alvarez this season
Hailed as "unbelievable" by former midfield partner Declan Rice, Soucek has had a monumental impact since arriving at the London stadium in 2020.
A box-to-box midfielder, whose high energetic work rate and physical prowess have been vital for the Hammers in both boxes, the 28-year-old has risen to cult hero status in claret and blue.
This season, however, the 64-cap international has let his performance levels drop and new signing Alvarez has outperformed him in a double pivot alongside James Ward-Prowse.
Indeed, when comparing the fundamentals associated with any deep-lying midfielder, including tackles won, successful dribbles and passes completed, the Mexican's metrics come out on top against his Czech counterpart.
Stat
Tomas Soucek
Edson Alvarez
Minutes per game
72
76
Tackles won
1.2
2.0
Balls recovered
2.7
4.7
Total duels won %
4.1 (50%)
4.4 (48%)
Successful dribbles
0%
78%
Pass completion
75%
85%
Interceptions
0.9
0.6
All stats via Sofascore
As the table above delineates, Soucek isn't comfortable at carrying the ball from deep – as demonstrated by his 0% dribble success rate – and is unable to eclipse Alvarez across the majority of the other defensive and technical metrics.
By contrast, the former Ajax star has the speed to recover more balls in central areas, can manoeuvre out of tight spaces with his precise ball control, is a tackling machine out of possession and has an exceptional pass range.
Taking all of the above into account, Moyes should drop Soucek for his "invaluable" 6 foot 2 ace – as previously dubbed by Rio Ferdinand – against Olympiacos.