David Moyes must start Mohammed Kudus now amid telling West Ham United stat
West Ham may have lost back-to-back Premier League matches, but the Hammers can still be pleased with their start to the 2023-24 campaign.
United sit seventh after the first six rounds of matches, having won three and drawn one prior to the losses to Manchester City and Liverpool.
However, with Sheffield United next up in the league at London Stadium on Saturday [30 September], David Moyes may want to rethink his plans.
As is so often the case with new signings under Moyes, the Scotsman has decided to play the long game with new signing Mohammed Kudus.
The Ghana international has been a second-half substitute in all three Premier League games since arriving from Ajax in a £38million transfer.
But a stat has emerged that suggests United could pay the price if they do not start using Kudus from the beginning of matches.
As per FBref, West Ham would be down amongst the likes of Everton and Wolves if the table was based on expected goals (xG) alone.
Indeed, only five teams in the Premier League have a lower xG differential than West Ham so far this season (-0.72).
The Hammers are scoring at a steady enough rate (11 goals in six games), despite the number of chances they are creating being among the lowest in the top flight.
This can be explained by the fact that West Ham are taking their opportunities when they do arrive.
As pointed out by WhoScored on Twitter, only Newcastle United (18.4%) have a better conversion rate than West Ham (16.7%) so far this season.
While many do not pay much attention to xG tallies, it does – in more cases than not – provide an indication of whether a side is in a false position so to speak.
If West Ham are to avoid sliding down the table in line with their xG norm, they could do with adding some creativity to the side.
Look no further than Kudus, who not only has the ability to stick away chances – he scored twice on his only start in all competitions so far – he can also create them at a steady rate.
Michail Antonio would be the obvious man to make way, having gone four games without a goal or assist in all competitions.
Moyes would no doubt prefer to give Kudus a couple more cameo appearances before throwing him into the XI, but next weekend’s visit of Sheffield United seems the right time to start the versatile forward.
In other West Ham news, a player has been called out for making a “fateful error”.