By Joe Ellis

20th Oct, 2022 | 8:40am

West Ham United injury curse strikes as Lucas Paqueta in nervous wait

West Ham United will be without Lucas Paqueta for some time after sustaining a shoulder injury in training, David Moyes has confirmed.

The 25-year-old missed the Irons’ trip to Anfield to face Liverpool on Wednesday (19 October) as a result and now could be a doubt for the World Cup.

Paqueta had played in every game of his Premier League career so far for West Ham prior to the Merseyside defeat as well as being an integral part of the Brazil setup under Tite.

“He has an injury, it’s quite serious at the moment. I am not sure how long it will keep him out,” Moyes said, as quoted by the Daily Mail.

“He has been a huge player for us recently, he was coming into form and giving us a different type of dynamic in the team. We are really disappointed to lose him.”

Test the mettle

Now is when Moyes is going to get a proper look at who he can rely on in his squad and who needs to be let go at the next available opportunity.

Pablo Fornals, Said Benrahma and Manuel Lanzini will all have their eyes on Paqueta’s attacking midfield role and will likely get a chance to shine as the search for the next best thing begins.

Benrahma looked particularly lively at times against Liverpool and certainly did himself no harm despite the 1-0 loss at Anfield courtesy of a Darwin Nunez header.

The other two will have to match his intensity and skill to stay in Moyes’ mind for starts although there is a possibility that the Algerian international plays on the wing instead.

Whatever happens next for Paqueta, he will remain the best that West Ham have got in that department unless somebody springs from nowhere and becomes the greatest player the world has ever seen overnight, which seems unlikely.