Nuno Espirito Santo will remember £40,000 history as Premier League make announcement ahead of Leeds vs West Ham
West Ham will take on Leeds United on Friday, as Nuno Espirito Santo attempts to pull the Hammers out of a serious crisis.
Goals from Igor Thiago and Mathias Jensen saw West Ham lose 2-0 to Brentford at the London Stadium on Monday, after a dismal 90 minutes.
The Hammers need not have turned up, such was the brutal disparity between the sides on the night.
Over 20,000 West Ham season ticket holders boycotted the game against Brentford, but those present were forced to watch on as the Irons failed to produce more than one shot on target.
West Ham have now been tipped for relegation, with Nuno in need of a miracle to save a ship that is sinking at a rapid rate.
Premier League make referee appointment vs Brentford
West Ham were slammed for their performance against Brentford, and rightly so. The Hammers produced just 0.35 expected goals on the night, and were dominated by their London opposition.
Nuno had been dealt a difficult start, but the performance against Everton in his debut match in charge had contained reasons for positivity.
| West Ham | Match stats | Brentford |
| 44% | Possession | 56% |
| 0.35 | Expected goals (xG) | 2.37 |
| 7 | Shots | 22 |
| 1 | Shots on target | 7 |
| 0 | Big chances | 5 |
| 6 | Corners | 10 |
Monday’s match has thrown any sense of hope out of the window, however, with the Hammers now facing a difficult trip to Elland Road.
And there will be further cause for concern for Nuno, after the Premier League made an announcement ahead of the match.
Stuart Attwell will oversee Friday’s game against Leeds, with Craig Pawson selected for video assistant referee duty.
But it is the former with whom Nuno shares a controversial past.
Nuno Espirito Santo was fined after slamming Stuart Attwell
In October 2024, debate surrounding refereeing standards in the Premier League exploded into life when Nottingham Forest accused Attwell of bias following their 2-0 loss to Everton.
Nuno’s side had been denied a penalty on three occasions throughout the game, despite all three incidents seeming to have genuine cause for an on-field review.
Nottingham Forest took to social media to claim that they “warned the PGMOL that the VAR (Attwell) is a Luton fan”, and were later fined £750,000 by the Football Association.
After the game, Nuno himself said: “I share the feeling of the club because it is not only this game, it has been a while for poor decisions against us. It is not an excuse but we are not comfortable with the referees.”
For his comments, the Portuguese boss was given a suspended one-match touchline ban, a £40,000 fine and a warning as to his future conduct.
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