Why West Ham must make drastic tactical switch after what Kyle Walker-Peters did vs Fulham

Nuno Espirito Santo has been forced into a corner with Kyle Walker-Peters at West Ham United.

The Englishman was the only fit senior right-back available to the Portuguese manager and started against Fulham in the Carabao Cup third round.

With the Hammers leaking goals this season, they eventually lost 3-2 at home to the Cottagers on 15 September.

Walker-Peters was one of the problems for Nuno at London Stadium, with Fulham focusing their attacks on their left.

The former Southampton defender had his moments going forward, but he was arguably a passenger at the back for the Irons.

Some tough calls need to be made at the East London club if they want to end the season with automatic promotion to the Premier League.

How Kyler Walker-Peters was culpable in West Ham loss vs Fulham

Walker-Peters and Max Kilman had evenings to forget in the loss to Fulham.

Alvaro Arbeloa's team's first two goals came from the Hammers' right side, as the defence lost concentration.

Rodrigo Muniz first found the back of the net from a cross, and Cesar Palacios ran in behind the Irons' defence after a simple ball over the top, with Lewis Orford and Walker-Peters just watching.

For Fulham's third goal, Oscar Bobb easily dribbled past the right-back, who had found himself out on the left on that occasion, and slotted the ball past Finlay Herrick.

Nuno Espirito Santo could be forced into unpopular change at London Stadium

It might be time for Nuno to go back to playing three defenders at the back.

The Portuguese manager tried a 3-4-3 formation at times last season, but it backfired massively.

Fans in E20 aren't the biggest fans of Nuno's conservative approach, but he needs to do something about the Hammers' defensive frailties.

Morato has brought some quality to the back line and it would be worth a shot to play him alongside Konstantinos Mavropanos and Kilman in a more central position.

Nuno can then provide the backline with defensive cover by including someone like Soungoutou Magassa in the midfield.

Jarrod Bowen can be pushed into a more central area up top while other players do the defensive work on the right flank.

There's no easy solution, with Joel Veltman also putting in some concerning displays, and it remains to be seen how the former Nottingham Forest boss deals with the problems in E20.