Nuno Espirito Santo faces a big selection call as West Ham prepare to face Arsenal with fans urging him to drop one struggling player.
West Ham head to Arsenal looking to build on an impressive 1-1 draw at Everton in Nuno Espirito Santo’s first game in charge.
The Hammers are desperate for a win of any kind having tasted victory just once in their first six Premier League games of the season.
Arsenal’s focus is on winning the Premier League and with a thicker, better quality squad than previous seasons, they are favourites to do just that with many.
West Ham may be able to take some confidence from the fact they have won at the Emirates in each of the last two seasons.
West Ham want Emirates hat-trick to kick-start Nuno era
The Gunners have only lost four of their last 42 home matches over the last two seasons – and two of them to the Hammers.
Mikel Arteta is running scared of West Ham with a warning to Arsenal’s players and fans ahead of the clash at the Emirates.
The Gunners will be wary of suffering another damaging defeat to the Hammers, especially with the potential for some new manager bounce.
That was certainly on show at Everton where West Ham were much-improved for Nuno’s first game in charge.
The Irons could and perhaps should have won that game.
Many Hammers fans felt one man was the reason they didn’t.
As a result, Nuno has been facing calls to drop West Ham’s worst player from that game.
Now the Hammers boss will respond one way or another.
Here’s how West Ham could line up for the huge London clash with Premier League survival, title hopes and bragging rights at stake.
Niclas Fullkrug has struggled since moving to West Ham and looks ill-equipped to thrive in the Premier League.
Question marks were raised when the Hammers spent £27m on the ageing German striker, who arrived with a substantial injury record throughout his career.
Nuno responds to calls to drop worst West Ham player
It was no surprise then when Fullkrug spent six of his first nine months at the London Stadium out injured.
He got Nuno’s backing by starting his first game at Everton.
But while he worked hard for the team, Fullkrug turned in a 3/10 performance.
Slow, immobile and second to nearly every ball, Fullkrug continues to look well off the pace in English football.
The striker takes so long to sort his feet out in the box that the chances come and go.
Fullkrug would probably have struggled to succeed in the Premier League even in his prime as a younger player. Now, at nearly 33, it seems like a thankless task.
Fullkrug is trying and working hard – but he just doesn’t look up to it with Hammers fans hoping Nuno can turn him into their answer to Chris Wood.
West Ham’s first order of business on January 1st must be to right the biggest wrong of the summer window and sign a pacy, powerful young striker.
In the meantime, Nuno has a big decision to make over Fullkrug for Arsenal.
Many are calling for Callum Wilson, or even young Callum Marshall, to start instead of Fullkrug at the Emirates.
Hammers News has suggested Nuno should use two key West Ham players in new positions to solve the striker problem.
Konstantinos Mavropanos and Kyle Walker-Peters are the other players under pressure to keep their places with Jean-Clair Todibo now over an illness and Aaron Wan-Bissaka available again too.
Former Arsenal defender Mavropanos made another error costing West Ham a goal at Everton.
We think Nuno has made a big call on Fullkrug based on footage leaked from training.
The German looks set to get another chance as Wilson was seen training with West Ham’s substitute squad ahead of the Arsenal clash.
That might be partly down to the fact Arsenal could be without their key defender for the Hammers.
Predicted West Ham starting XI to face Arsenal:
Areola, Walker-Peters, Mavropanos, Kilman, Diouf, Magassa, Fernandes, Paqueta, Summerville, Bowen, Fullkrug.
