Advertisement

Despite European win West Ham are still vulnerable to Albion

West Ham beat Viborg FF in the Europa Conference League
West Ham beat Viborg FF in the Europa Conference League

WEST HAM have have picked up some form just before their match against Albion in the Premier League on Sunday.

The Hammers had started the season in a mixed fashion, losing both of their matches, but did show improvement in the defeat to Nottingham Forest last Sunday.

They have now picked up their first win against Danish side Viborg FF at the London Stadium on Thursday night. New signings Maxwell Cornet and Gianluca Scamacca combined for the first goal before Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio wrapped up the scoring.

The Argus: West Ham Gianluca Scamacca scored his first goal for the club against Viborg
The Argus: West Ham Gianluca Scamacca scored his first goal for the club against Viborg

West Ham Gianluca Scamacca scored his first goal for the club against Viborg

Though the Hammers were not at their best during the Europa Conference League qualifier, they did show glimpses of their impressive selves that saw them reach the Europa League semi-final last season.

Despite finding the net three times, the Hammers still looked vulnerable at the back as central defenders have been a weakness for the club this season, with Nayef Aguerd, Angelo Ogbonna and Craig Dawson all dealing with injuries.

Ogbonna made his return from his ACL injury against Viborg, but could only manage 65 minutes.

After the game first-team coach Billy McKinlay - who was in charge of the team as manager David Moyes was suspended - said: "We felt across the game we were a little inconsistent and little laboured with our use of the ball and probably turned it over too many times for our liking.

"The consequence of that was we gave them a little bit of enthusiasm and encouragement, and they had some nice passages of play with maybe some opportunities to do better in the final third.

"So we’re not absolutely satisfied as we still need to do more to find our rhythm and cohesion and hopefully we do that soon."

There is a possibility that West Ham could have two more new faces in their squad to face Albion as talks for Chelsea's Emerson Palmieri and Club Brugge's Hans Vanaken are ongoing, however it would be a big surprise to see Moyes throw them in at the deep end.

Albion can go into the game quietly confident of maintaining their unbeaten record against West Ham since being promoted to the Premier League.

Graham Potter's side have been in good nick this season, recording a win against Manchester United and a draw with Newcastle that they easily could have won on another day.