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Love it or hate it, West Ham find themselves in the second tier of English football for the first time in fourteen years. The long road back to the Premier League begins this afternoon with a daunting 46 game season between the Irons and that coveted return. A trip to Turf Moor and fellow relegated side Burnley is not perhaps the easiest start to life in the Championship but the Hammers have to beat ’em all, twice, to make it back to the top tier. Burnley have a new manager and several key players out injured whilst West ham have no Soucek, no Lamadrid and rumours swirling that neither Alvarez or Magassa will be in Nuno Espirito Santo’s plans. Hence predicting Nuno’s starting eleven is a tricky one for the first game this season – will he begin away from home with the 4-2-4 line up that shows aggression or revert to a more cautious 4-3-3 with an additional midfielder? Leopards don’t change their spots and I’d make a guess Nuno will start off in ‘cautious’ mode. Providing Alvarez is free to play – with rumours over an exit rife – our predicted starting line up looks like this: West Ham – predicted Hermansen | Walke-Peters, Mavropanos, Kilman, Scarles | Kanté , Orford, Alvarez | Solomon, Castellanos, Bowen (c) Score predictions Martin 2 – 1 West Ham win Gonzo 1 – 1 Matt 1 -0 West Ham win Sean 2- 1 West Ham win We will have the full line up for you as soon as it is announced and the return of Gonzo’s player ratings straight after the final whistle, so check back later!