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Nuno Espirito Santo could make one major change to the West Ham starting XI for the crucial clash against Fulham on Wednesday night.
The Hammers head across London to take on Marco Silva’s in-form Cottagers knowing a win would likely see them climb out of the relegation zone with nine games to play.
If Nottingham Forest lose away at Man City, West Ham know a victory over Fulham will move them up to 17th, a point above the Tricky Trees, one point behind Spurs and three behind Leeds.
However, each time West Ham have had a chance to pile the pressure on Forest and co in the Premier League relegation dogfight they have flopped.
Nuno could drop West Ham midfielder for striker at Fulham
Now it is up to Nuno Espirito Santo to make sure that doesn’t happen again at Craven Cottage.
Hammers News believes Nuno will make one key change to the West Ham starting XI for the clash with Fulham.
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West Ham’s owners have told Nuno Fulham is ‘huge’.
The Hammers board have broken their silence following the announcement of club record £104m losses to state that every game is ‘must win’ for the club for the remainder of the season.
Now we think Nuno will go on the attack in a bid to fire the Irons to safety.
Photo by Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
When Pablo was fit, Nuno tended to play with two up top and Valentin ‘Taty’ Castellanos in the second striker role or vice versa.
While Pablo has returned to light training he is not ready for any action yet.
Castellanos was very ineffective in both the 0-0 draw against Bournemouth and the 5-2 defeat at Liverpool.
The Argentine did score a consolation but his overall game lacked any real threat.
That led to calls for Callum Wilson to start and Nuno looks set to respond by bringing West Ham’s best finisher back into the starting XI.
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But not in place of Castellanos.
The man to make way will be midfielder Soungoutou Magassa as Nuno goes for the three points.
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Wilson will start up top with Castellanos behind him in the second striker role where he impacts the game more effectively.
Magassa can feel unlucky to lose his place but with Tomas Soucek providing goal threat and experience, it is a necessary switch with so much riding on West Ham taking all three points.
There have been calls for change at the back with many fans wanting Alphonse Areola back in goal in place of Mads Hermansen and for Jean-Clair Todibo to come back into the defence after the Hammers shipped five at Anfield.
We think Nuno will resist any change to a backline that has improved of late since Axel Disasi’s arrival on loan.
But the likes of Hermansen and Konstantinos Mavropanos will be under pressure to perform.
Nuno may have regretted not switching to a five at the back for Liverpool but he will elect to focus on attacking as the best form of defence at Fulham.
While not losing is paramount, West Ham really are at the stage where they simply must start getting wins on the board.
Nuno’s team selection, with Wilson spearheading the attack, will reflect that.
Predicted West Ham starting XI to face Fulham:
Hermansen, Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Disasi, Diouf, Soucek, Fernandes, Summerville, Bowen, Castellanos, Wilson.
Victory will pile pressure on Spurs and Leeds and will force the whole narrative of the relegation battle to flip.
Fulham vs West Ham kicks off at 7.30pm and is live on TNT Sports.
The official teams will be named at 6.15pm.
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