Nayef Aguerd to miss out, Gianluca Scamacca in doubt – Early West Ham United team news vs Brentford
Nayef Aguerd is likely to be unavailable when West Ham take on Brentford while Gianluca Scamacca remains a doubt, says David Moyes.
The Irons missed the absent group duo, along with Maxwel Cornet and Kurt Zouma, as they surrendered a half-time lead to lose 3-1 at Arsenal on 26 December.
There had been hopes that the two key summer signings might be available for Friday’s visit from the Bees (30 December), but it appears there will be no boost to the squad.
The Irons boss said in his pre-match press conference, as per Football London: “Gianluca has done a little bit of training, so we will see on him. He is probably lacking a bit of match practice.
“Nayef is still coming back from illness, which we’re trying to get him over. He’s done a few days training, I don’t believe he’s quite ready yet.”
Crunch
The Bees clash starts a vital run of four games against teams within touching distance in the league table, with fellow strugglers Leeds, Wolves and Everton next up.
An FA Cup rematch against Brentford is also coming up on 7 January so the top flight meeting could be instructive for that as well.
The defeat to Arsenal on Boxing Day was frustrating but didn’t come as a shock, although Moyes’ blasé attitude to the poor recent form is possibly a concern.
While he could brush off a loss at the Emirates against the league-leaders, alarm bells will be ringing loud and clear if a positive result isn’t picked up at home against another set of London rivals.
Injuries to key men haven’t helped the manager throughout this season, but the form of those who have been available, and his usage of them have also been disappointing.
The West Ham season has gone well past a slow start now and is in danger of becoming a write-off without an upturn in results soon, and the Friday night fixture would be a good place to start.