West Ham United boss David Moyes will be looking for his side’s first Premier League points of the season when they take on Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
The Hammers and upcoming opponents Forest both sit in the relegation zone after the opening weekend of the campaign. Last time out, the Irons lost 2-0 to defending Premier League champions Manchester City, while Forest were beaten by the same scoreline by Newcastle United a day earlier in their first Premier League match since 1999.
Going into this weekend, the injury-hit Hammers are likely to be without goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski after he suffered an injury in the first half against City after colliding with goalscorer Erling Haaland. Winger Nikola Vlasic is also unlikely to be involved as he closes in on a move to Torino on loan and centre-back Issa Diop signed for Fulham on Wednesday night.
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Fellow centre-back Nayef Aguerd will certainly be out injured until mid-October after undergoing ankle surgery last month, while fellow defender Craig Dawson is also unlikely to play, missing the meeting with City due to a thigh injury picked up in pre-season. Centre-back Angelo Ogbonna is also a major doubt after playing for the under-21s last Friday as he continues his return from a long-term knee injury.
One man who could however feature is winger Maxwel Cornet after signing for the Hammers from Burnley last week in a deal worth £17.5million. The Ivorian was signed too late last Friday to play against City but was unveiled to Hammers fans ahead of kick-off.
Cornet could make his debut for West Ham against the Tricky Trees and with the former Clarets man having plenty of versatility in his locker, the Hammers do have a few options of how to set out this weekend.
Here are three ways Moyes could pick his injury-hit team this weekend and how he could look to use Cornet in different ways at the City Ground.
Team 1 – 4-2-3-1 without Cornet
The first option would not involve Cornet and would see very little change from the side that lost to City. The one change this does involve comes in goal, with Alphonse Areola replacing the injured Fabianski in goal.
At the back, Vladimir Coufal, Ben Johnson, Kurt Zouma, and Aaron Cresswell would remain as a four-man defence and Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek play as the two midfielders in front of them.
The front four in this system would also be the same, Jarrod Bowen, Manuel Lanzini, Pablo Fornals, and Michail Antonio. Italian striker Gianluca Scamacca impressed from the bench, but the former Sassuolo man was playing his first match in almost two months and is unlikely to be fit enough for a full debut yet.
While West Ham did not test City all that much, they were not completely humiliated by Pep Guardiola’s side. In the first half, the Hammers had less than 20% possession, but they did show plenty of encouragement and desire in brief stints at the start of the match and early in the second half when they did have the ball.
Team 2 – 5-2-2-1 with Cornet
The second option would see Cornet play in a back five at left wing-back, with Aaron Cresswell moving to the left of a back three next to Johnson and Zouma.
Cornet’s best talents are going forward and scoring goals, but he can do a job in a deeper role and one of the reasons for signing him was because of his versatility to play in multiple positions.
This system would see Bowen and Fornals play either side of Antonio up front and Argentine midfielder Lanzini drop out of the side.
Team 3 – 4-2-3-1 with Cornet
Another option would see Cornet play as a left winger in the 4-2-3-1 shape Moyes has often used during his time with the Hammers.
This would see Cornet have a bigger effect higher up the pitch, with the goalkeeper, back four and two defensive midfielders staying the same as they were against City and the same seven that played once Fabianski was taken off against City, barring late cameos for Conor Coventry and Flynn Downes at the end of the game.
With Fornals having a bigger effect on the game against City and being kept for longer than Lanzini, having contributed two of West Ham’s four key passes, he could be moved centrally, with Lanzin missing out.
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