Kurt Zouma has been named in West Ham United's starting lineup to face Watford in the Premier League this evening.

The 27-year-old has recently been in the headlines for the wrong reasons after disturbing footage emerged of the Frenchman kicking and slapping his pet cat.

One previous report suggested that Zouma would not feature against the Hornets, with head coach David Moyes and senior club officials considering what disciplinary action should be taken.

However, Zouma has been selected to start at centre-back alongside Craig Dawson, who is one of eight changes made from the team which started against Kidderminster Harriers in the FA Cup last weekend.

Michail Antonio will lead the line up front, which will see in-form attacker Jarrod Bowen move onto the right flank, while Pablo Fornals, Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek all return to the midfield, after beginning on the bench last weekend.

Goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, who has missed West Ham last two matches, returns between the sticks at the expense of Alphonse Areola, and the Polish stopper will be protected by a back four of Vladimir Coufal, Zouma, Dawson and Aaron Cresswell.

Areola joins Ben Johnson, Ryan Fredericks, Issa Diop, Mark Noble, Alex Kral, Nikola Vlasic, Andriy Yarmolenko and Manuel Lanzini on the substitutes' bench, with all except the latter having started against Kidderminster. body check tags ::