Report – Reason for Masuaku absence from West Ham clash v Liverpool revealed
West Ham defender Arthur Masuaku missed the Hammers’ defeat to Liverpool on Monday night through injury, according to Football.London.
The left-back was omitted entirely from the match day squad for the Irons’ trip to Merseyside, despite being a favourite of David Moyes’ since the manager’s return to the club at the beginning of the year.
And it is understood that the 26-year-old was not left out for tactical reasons, but rather because of poor health.
The update comes in the wake of speculation as to why Masuaku had been left out after he endured a torrid outing against Manchester City last time round, giving rise to rumours that Moyes had swung the axe on him.
The player was well enough to travel to Anfield to support his teammates, however.
How big could Masuaku’s absence be for the Hammers?
Losing a first team player is never a good thing, plain and simple.
Masuaku has been a real favourite of David Moyes’ since he returned to east London, starting five out of eight Premier League matches, and looking relatively nailed on at left wing-back, especially with Aaron Cresswell occupying a more central role in defence.
For the most part, Masuaku has been pretty solid this season too, averaging 2.6 tackles, 1.6 successful dribbles per game, and respectable match rating of 6.63 per game, as per Whoscored.
The only real plus point here is that an illness is different to an injury, and you would hope that even if the left-back doesn’t make it back in time for Southampton at the weekend, he should be back for the next outing after that.
In other West Ham news, Report – Moyes favourite ruled out of Hammers clash v Southampton.