After a convincing 4-0 victory over Brighton Leicester City’s U23s will be looking forward to playing host on Monday against Dmitri Halajko’s West Ham who are still yet to find a win in the league this term.
Lower-Table Struggles
The Hammers have been disappointing so far this season, only managing to gain two points out of a potential 21. Their most recent league fixture was a devastating 4-2 loss to Liverpool, which now leaves them sitting in 13th place in the league.
This loss saw the Hammers end the match with 10 men on the field, after goalkeeper Joseph Anang saw a straight red card with an unlucky challenge in the box, leading to Liverpool’s third goal. With a huge loss in suspended keeper Anang, who will Halajko pick to start between the sticks against The Foxes on Monday evening?
The Safest Pair of Hands
Daniel Jinadu will be looking to impress after only being used as a substitute so far in the league. Halajko will be assessing the young man this week to see if he has what it takes to start his first game of the season.
Nathan Trott is another option for the Irons coach, The 21-year-old ‘keeper is yet to make an appearance this season, but with Anang being.suspended now can be his chance.
More Reasons for Optimism
The Hammers will be looking at young midfielder Keenan Forson to help spark a light into the team who haven’t been great so far in the league. He has just signed his first professional contract, after joining the club at 14. He made his debut in the loss to Liverpool. The bright and energetic player looked comfortable in his first appearance of the season,
Left back Emmanuel Longelo’s return was successful, after being out injured for a month, the 19-year-old got an assist after a brilliant cross into Oladapo Afoloyan to neatly despatch the ball into the back of the net.
With Longelo back in the team, this could mean a partnership between him and joint top-goal scorer Afoloyan can be formed. Players such as Longelo offer Afoloyan the chance to score more goals, which could of course lead to winning form.
Time to Knuckle Down
Despite Halajko’s playing style of free-flowing attacking football, the under 23’s are still desperate for their first win in the league, following their invincible season last year in Division 2.
With the number of changes happening within the squad like injuries and suspensions the team haven’t been able to find form. The constant change in formation isn’t allowing the team to settle into the league with the last four matches featuring four different formations.
Once the squad have settled, Halajko will look to capitalise on the talent that he knows his squad possesses, with the game against Leicester giving him a chance to do so.
