Sheffield United v West Ham: Premier League – live

18 min: Chance for Brooks! Now it’s Sheffield United’s turn to lament a missed opportunity.

16 min It’s in an almost identical position to Ivan Toney’s goal yesterday. This time Hamer doesn’t move the ball and crashes his free-kick into the wall.

15 min Hamer spins a nice pass round the corner to Osula, who is fouled just outside the area by Zouma. This looks perfect for the left foot of James McAtee…

14 min: Chance for Bowen! Vinicius Souza is caught on the ball by Ings, who nicks it past Ahmedhodzic and feeds Bowen on the edge of the area. He moves around the defence, away from goal, and drags a left-foot shot wide of the far post. The angle wasn’t the easiest, but Bowen is normally really precise when he shoots from that sort of position.

13 min Ward-Prowse’s free-kick from the left is headed towards goal by Zouma, 15 yards out, and Foderingham makes a comfortable save.

12 min: Good save by Foderingham! A long throw is nodded on by Soucek towards Ings, on the move as always. He hooks a first-time shot that is clawed away by the outrushing Foderingham. That’s a really good bit of anticipation.

11 min Vinicius Souza pelts a decent effort from 25 yards. Areola holds on as he falls to his right.

10 min Okay, these are the formations. I think.

Sheff Utd (4-1-4-1) Foderingham; Bogle, Ahmedhodzic, Robinson, Trusty; Vinicius Souza; McAtee, Hamer, Brooks, Brereton; Osula.

West Ham (4-2-3-1) Areola; Coufal, Mavropanos, Zouma, Emerson; Soucek, Ward-Prowse; Cornet, Ings, Fornals; Bowen.

9 min Hamer shoots wide from distance.

8 min Osula overhits a cross from the right. I’m trying to work out Sheffield United’s shape – it looks like Brereton Diaz has started on the left wing with Osula up front.

6 min Cornet cuts inside from the right and feeds the overlapping Coufal in the area. His cross is blocked at the near post.

4 min West Ham are playing with Ings slightly behind Bowen rather than the other way round. The reason for this tactical observation is that bugger all is happening on the field.

3 min “Good morning from Pittsburgh!” writes Eric Peterson. “I think there’s a shade of utter lunacy among that certain faction of West Ham supporters responsible for the vitriol directed at David Moyes given not only their recent achievements (European silverware, for crying out loud) but also their current league status.

“If Sheffield United come out with the same kind of relentlessly physical approach that fed Bristol City’s upset of the Hammers in the FA Cup, this could be a very awkward day for West Ham. Losing to the Premier League bottom-feeders right after becoming the only Premier League team to be ousted from the FA Cup third round by lower-level opposition would pour some serious gasoline on the fire.”

Whoever invented the phrase “bottom-feeder” should be hunted down and warned about the law of unintended consequences. I don’t care whether they’ve been dead for over a century.

2 min Both teams have started with a back four, as exclusively predicted nowhere.

1 min Peep peep! West ham, in their blue change strip, kick off from left to right as we watch.

Here come the players. With West Ham missing so many key men, this feels like a big chance for Sheffield United to launch their great escape. They’ve left it even later than the boys of 1990-91, but they still have the one thing all sentient beings need: hope.

‘Because someone had to’ is the frankly ominous subject of Matt Dony’s email.

The reflex is to write Moyes off as a notorious fan of straightforward football, but he’s hungry like the wolf for a bit of flair. The Jhon Duran deal may have come undone, but save a prayer for the potential Broja transfer. I can see him fitting in with the wild boys at West Ham.

No no no torius please no.

Ahmedhodzic dilemma tests Blades’ new harmony

Stick or twist: sell this month or delay until the summer? The now harmonious relationship between Sheffield United’s owner, Prince Abdullah, and Chris Wilder could be tested by Napoli’s serious interest in Anel Ahmedhodzic. The 24-year-old Bosnia and Herzegovina defender, who grew up in Sweden, arrived in South Yorkshire 18 months ago for what now looks a bargain £4m from Malmö. He played a key part in promotion from the Championship and has recently captained Wilder’s side.

With the side’s key centre-half, and usual skipper, John Egan, sidelined by an achilles tendon injury until late spring at the earliest, selling Ahmedhodzic now could ruin Wilder’s hopes of avoiding relegation. On the other hand, the cash would be extremely welcome at Bramall Lane. Meanwhile, the new loan signing Ben Brereton Díaz will be hoping to endear himself to the fans with a goal or two against West Ham.

This match has been inconsiderately scheduled in the middle of the transfer window, but West Ham are doing their best to compete on both fronts.

Ben Brereton Diaz, the Chile striker on loan from Villarreal, makes his Premier League debut for Sheffield United. He replaces Anis Ben Slimane in one of four changes from their last league game, a 2-0 defeat at the Etihad in December. James McAtee, Anel Ahmedhodzic and Gustavo Hamer come in for Luke Thomas, George Baldock and Oliver Norwood.

West Ham picked a near full strength team for their FA Cup defeat in Bristol last week. There are three changes today: Alphonse Areola, Pablo Fornals and the fit-again Jarrod Bowen come in for Lukasz Fabianski, Aaron Cresswell and Said Benrahma.

Both teams may switch to a back four. Or they may not, such is the eternal tease that is tactics.

Sheff Utd (4-1-4-1) Foderingham; Bogle, Ahmedhodzic, Robinson, Trusty; Vinicius Souza; McAtee, Hamer, Brooks, Brereton; Osula.
Substitutes: Brewster, McBurnie, Archer, Norwood, Osborn, Norrington-Davies, Amissah, Seriki, Buyabu.

West Ham (4-2-3-1) Areola; Coufal, Mavropanos, Zouma, Emerson; Soucek, Ward-Prowse; Cornet, Ings, Fornals; Bowen.
Subs: Fabianski, Johnson, Cresswell, Ogbonna, Casey, Mubama, Marshall,
Scarles, Orford.

Referee Michael Salisbury.

Hello and welcome to to live coverage of Sheffield United v West Ham United at Bramall Lane. Let’s start with the team news, shall we.