West Ham welcome Fulham to the London Stadium for a must-win game and Nuno Espirito Santo looks set to make two big changes.
The Hammers are standing at a crossroads over their very survival in the Premier League.
West Ham play Fulham and Brighton at home three days apart before games against Wolves and Forest.
Stuck in the bottom three, effectively six points adrift of safety, the Irons simply have to take at least 10, if not 12, points from the four games to have a realistic hope of staying up.
It forms the most significant segment of what is Nuno Espirito Santo’s most winnable run of games between now and May.
West Ham must beat Fulham as survival bid begins
Given how competitive the top flight is this season, it is projected that the magic 40 points will be needed to survive for the first time in over a decade.
If West Ham want to get to that tally, they must win the equivalent of another nine games from the 21 that remain.
What CHANGES would you make to our West Ham v Fulham combined XI?
We just HAD to shoehorn both Bowen and Harry Wilson in…
It is some ask to go from winning three in 17 to nine in 21. But that is the task at hand for the Hammers.
That is why facing a depleted Fulham at home is quite simply a must-win for West Ham.
The Cottagers are missing a host of key players due to AFCON including Nigerian trio Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey and Samuel Chukwueze.
Nuno has his own AFCON issues with El Hadji Malick Diouf and Aaron Wan-Bissaka both away with Senegal and DR Congo respectively.
Ironically, the duo face off directly against one another at the same time West Ham play Fulham with Senegal meeting Congo in their second game of the tournament after both won their opening matches.
Their absence limits Nuno’s options in an already weak squad and gives the Portuguese a selection dilemma.
So too does striker Callum Wilson, who has been a hot topic of debate among Hammers fans after being left out by Nuno again in recent matches.
The manager is also under pressure to drop Max Kilman again after his woeful performance at Man City.
We predict Nuno makes two big West Ham changes for Fulham as one star is harshly dropped.
Nuno makes two big West Ham changes for Fulham
Alphonse Areola has arguably been West Ham’s best player of late.
So the Hammers ace is one of the first names on the teamsheet to face his former club.
A battle between two of the Prem’s BEST right-wingers! ⚔️
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Nuno decided to bring Kilman back into the starting XI for the 3-0 defeat to Man City last time out.
The £40m signing from Wolves has been woeful this season and had been dropped in favour of Konstantinos Mavropanos recently.
While that had not helped the Hammers keep any clean sheets, the big Greek had been a marginal improvement on Kilman.
But Mavropanos was left out at Man City in favour of Kilman and the latter was poor once again.
Now Mavropanos looks set to come back into the West Ham starting XI to replace Kilman in one big change for the Fulham clash.
Ollie Scarles is said to be fit after a groin strain, meaning he should retain his place at left-back with Kyle Walker-Peters at right-back and Jean-Clair Todibo alongside Mavropanos in central defence.
Nuno cannot afford to play without a striker in a must-win game.
So we believe Wilson will come back into the team from the start.
That will see Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville return to their wider roles.
Many Hammers fans have called for Lucas Paqueta to be dropped after a string of underwhelming performances.
West Ham star Magassa harshly dropped for Fulham
It has been claimed Nuno believes Paqueta West Ham’s best player and he previously called the midfielder ‘irreplaceable’.
So it is safe to assume Paqueta will start, but with Wilson back, he will revert to a midfield role.
Mateus Fernandes has been one of West Ham’s better performers recently and brings much-needed box-to-box energy to midfield.
That gives Nuno a big decision to make over Freddie Potts and Soungoutou Magassa.
Young French midfielder Magassa has been seriously impressive but looks set to be harshly demoted back to the bench.
Predicted West Ham starting XI to face Fulham:
Areola, Walker-Peters, Mavropanos, Todibo, Scarles, Potts, Fernandes, Paqueta, Summerville, Bowen, Wilson.
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