West Ham hit with Europa League injury blow as Jarrod Bowen doesn’t travel
West Ham United have both good and bad news regarding two of their star players ahead of their Europa League round of 16 first leg against Sevilla.
According to Claret and Hugh, vice-captain Declan Rice has travelled to Seville for the game after missing the Irons’ trip to Anfield through illness but whether he starts is as yet unknown.
The England international is key to David Moyes’ team as is winger Jarrod Bowen but he seems to have been ruled out of Thursday evening’s game by not travelling with the squad to Spain.
The 25-year-old hobbled off early into the second half against Liverpool on Saturday with a knee injury but the club assured fans that it was only a knock and that he wouldn’t be out for a significant period of time.
Tomorrow’s game in Seville appears to have come too soon for him regardless and he will be a big miss for Moyes.
Rice has to play
Rice’s importance to the team is well known and the Irons badly missed him at Anfield with Manuel Lanzini filling in for the 23-year-old.
Given that he has travelled with the squad to Spain for tomorrow’s game, he surely has to start alongside Tomas Soucek in the midfield two.
If he isn’t planned to start after his illness over the weekend, why bother taking him at all?
He’s only missed one game so he is either fit to play the full game or not at all and his presence on the plane suggests the former is true.
Bowen’s absence is an expected blow to the Hammers considering how fragile he appeared to be as he limped off on Merseyside.
There is thankfully more than enough backup to fill the void in the short term even if they aren’t at the same level as the Englishman.
In other West Ham news, Europa League opponents Sevilla are also struggling with injuries as eight senior stars are ruled out.
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