West Ham United are likely to face a fully fit Erling Haaland on March 14th as Pep Guardiola confirms the Manchester City striker is ‘much better’ after a recent injury.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side face Fulham at Craven Cottage on Wednesday night, at the same time as Manchester City kick off against the Hammers’ relegation rivals Nottingham Forest.
Beat Fulham and, as long as Forest do not pull off an almighty shock at the Etihad, West Ham United will go into the FA Cup weekend outside of the relegation zone.
What CHANGE should Nuno make vs Fulham?
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On one hand, then, the Hammers fans will be delighted to hear that Erling Haaland could return to the City squad for the visit of Vitor Pereira’s side.
On the other, this also means that the Norwegian sensation will surely be leading the line at the London Stadium in eleven days’ time.
West Ham United cannot escape their Manchester City nemesis Erling Haaland
Haaland has scored seven goals in his last three Premier League appearances against West Ham. Eleven in seven since arriving from Borussia Dortmund in 2022.
“[Haaland] feels much better but, yesterday [Monday], we didn’t train. Now, we are training. We will decide today [if he is fit to feature vs Forest],” Guardiola told reporters.
Despite the fact Liverpool put five goals past Mads Hermansen last time out, there is a feeling of cautious optimism at West Ham right now.
Since matchday 22, the Hammers have picked up five more points than Forest and a staggering nine more than free-falling Tottenham Hotspur.
Presuming that Guardiola will have Haaland at his disposal against 17th-place Forest – albeit Antoine Semenyo led the line impressively in his absence at Leeds, scoring the winner – the two clubs sitting either side of the dotted line could swap positions over the next 36 hours or so.
Why is Jarrod Bowen struggling when we need him most?
Nuno Espirito Santo backs Jarrod Bowen ahead of Fulham trip
Speaking of talismanic forwards, West Ham’s has found goals relatively hard to come by of late.
Nuno is backing Jarrod Bowen to bounce back after recent criticism, though, and prove that form is indeed merely temporary.
“I think Jarrod is a talented player that can always surprise us and give us amazing things,” Nuno says of the skipper, who has not found the net in any of his last four league outings.
“He’s been huge for us. He’s the club captain and, every day, he gives his best.”
Such is the daunting nature of West Ham’s fixture schedule, Wednesday’s trip to Craven Cottage feels like an opportunity Bowen and the Londoners cannot afford to waste.
Marco Silva’s side are no slouches. In contrast, they beat Tottenham Hotspur pretty handily last time out. Issa Diop is in ‘brilliant’ form ahead of a reunion with his old employers, too.
Yet, with Man City and then a trip to Aston Villa to come after the FA Cup fifth-round clash against Brentford, Fulham away is, on paper, the most ‘winnable’ of West Ham’s next three league matches.
Things should get a little easier after that, though. In theory. West Ham know all too well – thrashed 3-0 at Molineux two months ago – that even a seemingly-doomed Wolves outfit are not short of quality.
Still, the Hammers will face rock-bottom Wolves, Crystal Palace, mid-table Everton and a hopefully on-the-beach Brentford before Arsenal come to town on May 9th.
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