Daniel Feliciano

Tue 12 September 2023 13:40, UK

West Ham may have to face off against treble winners and Premier League leaders Manchester City without Edson Alvarez this weekend.

The Hammers have had an excellent start to the campaign this season with three wins from their first four games, including convincing wins against Chelsea and Brighton.

And a big part of that success has been the new-look midfield including summer signings Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse, who were signed to replace the outgoing Declan Rice who joined Arsenal.

But one team with a better start this season have been Man City, who have won all four of their games in the Premier League and also won the UEFA Super Cup already.

It was always going to be a tough game for the Hammers in a Saturday 3pm kick-off at the London Stadium, but in an interview with talkSPORT on Tuesday (12 September) the manager has admitted that Alvarez may not be available for the game due to his international commitments.

“Now they play all different days,” he said.

“We’ve got Edson Alvarez who we don’t think we’ll get him back until late Thursday afternoon. It’s the same for a lot of clubs. We’ve just got to get on with it.

“But I’ve got to say, it will be really tough to get them back from those trips and then get them ready to play on the Saturday.”

That would be a huge blow for the team with the new-found balance in midfield of Alvarez, Ward-Prowse and Lucas Paqueta providing a fantastic base defensively and plenty of talent going forward too.

It’s an issue the club dealt with last year too with Michail Antonio travelling to play for Jamaica, but he was often able to feature for the Hammers with most of their games coming on a Sunday due to their European ventures.

There is no doubt Alvarez will want to play and Moyes will want to play him, but this is an issue and one that the management will have to think about in preparation for the fixture.

In other West Ham news, Jesse Lingard update emerges as Hammers move hits the rocks.