West Ham play at home tonight, a game that could return us to the top of the table if we win.
The news from the team is that there is really no news from the team. Thomas Partey and Takehiro Tomiyasu are not yet ready according to Mikel Arteta, Fabio Vieira and Jurrien Timber are also sidelined with no expectations of them being available for a while yet, and Kai Havertz is suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card in the game. at Anfield.
As I wrote yesterday, that could present an opportunity for Emile Smith Rowe or Leandro Trossard, and I hope it’s the former. Which is no slight on the Belgian international, but as things stand, Smith Rowe is a name on the squad list rather than a player we can count on, and with a lot of football still to be played this season, it would be a lot more useful. for us if it were the last. So, at home against a team that will sit deep and challenge us to beat them, what better game to start with? If not now, then when?
Mikel Arteta spoke about him a couple of weeks ago, saying he had seen a difference in how Smith Rowe had responded to another injury setback, and yesterday he was asked if he meant physically or mentally. He answered:
Both. And I think it was obviously not the first time that that happened. Sometimes it’s not easy to start that process over and start again. When he was gaining momentum and looking good, he again had to go through it and he did it in a really impressive way.
Now it’s about putting him on the field when he has the opportunity to do so, to perform and make a difference for the team.
Will tonight be that opportunity? I’d like to see it, but if I had to guess right now, I think I’d probably pick Trossard. We will know an hour before the start. Beyond that, I don’t see any changes from the team that drew with Liverpool, and obviously the Declan Rice factor will play a part, at least in the pre-match coverage. We already played West Ham this season and lost in the ELF Cup, but the Premier League is a different beast. I don’t think it’s an occasion that fazes him one bit, and the coach believes we haven’t seen the best of him yet and says:
He’s also shown that he has an eye for goals, you know, and when he’s in the opposition box he’s a real threat, so it’s something that can be developed. Still, I believe your leadership ability also knows the way it will grow naturally. the team, within the club in the coming years. I think there is much more to come.
It seems relatively clear how the Hammers will approach this issue, with a classic well-drilled and well-organised Moyesian defense that will be very difficult to break down. When given the chance, the trio of Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus will look to attack us on the counter-attack, focusing on potential space behind Oleksandr Zinchenko, while James Ward-Prowse’s set-piece prowess is an important factor. . We will have to be very attentive to it.
So, from our perspective, it’s about efficiency in the final third, something that at times hasn’t been where it should be this season. The excellent win over Brighton should have been more convincing due to the sheer volume of chances we created, and tonight the likely front three, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka, have a huge responsibility to make the most of the opportunities when they come. Our own set-piece skills could also be key to a breakthrough, but the sooner we score tonight the better as that will have to change the way they play at some point.
Fingers crossed. As always, we’ll have live blog coverage for you and you can find the report, player ratings and everything else on Arseblog News.
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