West Ham United might not have spent in the region of £300 million on new attackers, like Sunday’s crisis-hit opponents Liverpool, but Nuno Espirito Santo’s is still a team with plenty of potential matchwinners.
Jarrod Bowen is always capable of producing anything, at any time.
West Ham will have Lucas Paqueta back from suspension, too. Crysencio Summerville is hoping to return to Nuno’s XI as well, having been ruled out of that 2-2 draw at AFC Bournemouth with a minor injury.
And, considering that Liverpool have now joined West Ham United at the top of the charts with nine set-piece goals conceded apiece, El Hadji Malick Diouf may fancy his chances when whipping those trademark crosses into the penalty area.
Yet, while a midfielder with one goal and one assist in 10 Premier League appearances may not be the first name which comes to mind when sifting through potential London Stadium matchwinners, Mateus Fernandes appears particularly well-suited to deepening Arne Slot’s woes on Sunday afternoon.
Mateus Fernandes during West Ham United v Burnley - Premier League
Photo by Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images
Mateus Fernandes is perfectly equipped to helping West Ham United beat Liverpool
To think, it was West Ham a couple of months ago who seemed destined for a season of struggle with a midfield lacking in legs, athleticism and a turn of pace.
Upton Park icon Tony Cottee was left bemused, not to mention pretty fearful, after watching James Ward-Prowse, Guido Rodriguez and Tomas Soucek trudge through the opening weeks of the campaign from behind the back of the sofa.
West Ham’s worst start in 52 years.
It would be a stretch to suggest such complaints feel like lightyears ago these days. But, picking up seven points from a possible nine, it is not an exaggeration to say Mateus Fernandes and Freddie Potts are transforming the Hammers’ fortunes.
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What do West Ham have to do to beat Liverpool this weekend?
“It just becomes a mess for Liverpool, and they’ve got a huge problem defending set-pieces. Everyone now is going to play on that fact.”
– Jamie Carragher
“I would describe [our form] as ridiculous, almost. Something I did not expect. That is unbelievable. Unexpected for the club, for me and everyone”
– Arne Slot
“This season, we don’t have any consistency. We concede far too many goals, we are losing battles, and everyone is responsible for it”
– Virgil van Dijk
The tenacity, stability provided by Potts gives the foundation. A foundation upon which Fernandes does what he does best; bursting forwards from deep, turning defence into attack with thundering forward runs, and breaking defensive lines at will.
Arne Slot has been very open about Liverpool’s weaknesses when it comes to breaking down low-blocks and defending set-pieces.
But Fernandes would have been licking his lips and baring his teeth, though, when watching PSV Eindhoven run riot at Anfield.
Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch are having a nightmare season
For PSV’s second goal, Mauro Junior breezed past a trundling Mo Salah on the halfway line and saw the entire pitch open up for him. Neither Ryan Gravenberch nor Alexis Mac Allister ever threatened to close him down, as Mauro Junior was given the freedom of Merseyside to set up Guus Til.
Considering Fernandes’ greatest strengths involve beating his markers with a burst of acceleration before picking out passes in the final third, the Portugal Under-21 captain should be relishing the chance to do what he does best against Liverpool’s lightweight and seemingly legless midfield.
“I think we concede easy goals. That is our problem right now,” Gravenberch sighed after PSV became the third side in a row, after Manchester City and Nottingham Forest, to score three or more against the Reds.
“I think a team like us, we have to do better, we have to defend better.
“We don’t have the momentum right now, I think. Everything falls not in our way right now. Even the duels, the 50-50 chances. It’s really difficult.”
Losing the 50-50s was a feature of those humiliating home defeats by Forest and PSV.
Gravenberch and Mac Allister are arguably finer footballers than Fabinho and Jordan Henderson, but what Liverpool would do right now for Jurgen Klopp’s old midfield monsters at their prowling peak.
Gravenberch is a wonderful talent, but as far from a Fabinho-esque number six as it is possible to get.
Mo Salah, meanwhile, is not the only Liverpool player hit with the ‘legs have gone’ accusation. Remarkably, Alexis Mac Allister’s tackles per game average in the Premier League has dropped from 2.7 to just one from last season to this.
Fernandes could help West Ham end four-year wait for a Liverpool win
In Mateus Fernandes, West Ham have a player who seems ideally equipped to expose the glaring, physical weaknesses in Arne Slot’s engine room.
“There is one guy who has escaped criticism so far, Gravenberch,” Liverpool legend Steve Nicol told ESPN after that Forest thrashing. “This is a guy who was maybe Liverpool’s best player last year. He was in the right place at the right time, made decisions, started attacks.
Watch the highlights from West Ham’s last Premier League win over Liverpool!
“His main job is to be that block in front of the back four, order the other two [midfielders] around, let them go forward when they can, and he fills in behind and covers the holes. He has done none of that this year.
“Gravenberch is another one who, as fantastic as he was last year, has completely disappeared again.”
West Ham have not beaten Liverpool in the Premier League since 2021. On the back of nine defeats in league and cup 12 for the flailing champions, Nuno Espirito Santo could hardly have been handed a better chance of overcoming that particular hoodoo.
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