West Ham boss David Moyes has hinted that he may have to use Jarrod Bowen as a makeshift striker when his side travel to take on Arsenal on Boxing Day.
The Gunners currently sit top of the Premier League table after an impressive opening run of results in the division, but all the sides now have a new obstacle to deal with after seeing their players depart for the World Cup in Qatar, and it will be interesting to see which sides are able to deal with that hurdle.
While the homes side have some personnel issues to deal with, the visitors also have a conundrum of their own to figure out, with neither of their usual strike-options confirmed as available. Moyes has hinted that he could well play the impressive Bowen through the middle, while the home side are firmly expected to name Eddie Nketiah in the knowledge that Brazilian Gabriel Jesus will be missing for the upcoming weeks.
“Gianluca {Scamacca} has got an ankle injury and Mick {Antonio} had a calf strain. We’re hoping they both have a chance, but they are doubtful, Moyes said in his pre-match conference (via WHUFC.com). “I think every club is going to have issues with players returning after the World Cup. Jarrod is more than capable of playing down the middle. We’ve done the same with Marko Arnautovic and Michail Antonio, so who says we can’t do it with Jarrod?”
While we will be focussed on our own side’s issues, it seems as though their problems may run deeper than our own, and I can’t help but feel like we would have been able to deal with their threat regardless of their selection. Missing Antonio will be a loss for them if he doesn’t make it regardless, and it should mean an easier challenge as we look to get the restart off to a winning one.
Patrick
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I’m more concerned that Saliba will not be playing and that his agent is reportedly in talks with PSG.
Its posting like this make me nervous, but where on earth is this lad whereabout.