West Ham are without a fan favourite for several weeks, with the player set to miss their bouts against Bournemouth, Liverpool, Fulham and Man City.
Resurgent West Ham eye Premier League survival after turnaround
Saturday evening at the London Stadium. The lights on, a packed crowd doing its desperate best to roar Nuno Espírito Santo's side to three points. The atmosphere will be electric — because it has to be.
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West Ham are in the relegation zone and running out of runway, but their form has been nothing short of exceptional since tasting that bitter 2-1 loss to relegation rivals Nottingham Forest.
However, for all the genuine progress of recent weeks — one defeat in five, three wins, a gritty FA Cup victory at Burton Albion — the Hammers remain in the bottom three.
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He's rated very highly in the Premier League.
Three points separate them from safety. Forest are there to be caught, the gap is not insurmountable, but Saturday's opponents are not the kind of side you want arriving at your ground when your backs are against the wall.
Bournemouth come to east London in buoyant mood. Andoni Iraola has built something impressive on the south coast, and their six-game unbeaten run in the league has quietly propelled them into the conversation for European football.
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They are organised, dangerous on the counter and — crucially — in slightly more buoyant spirits than the side they are visiting.
New signing Rayan has already made an impact, creating chances and scoring goals in the short time since his arrival, and Evanilson leads the line with pace and purpose.
Nuno will know the blueprint.
Defend deep, stay compact, and release Crysencio Summerville — who has been a serious handful in recent weeks with six goals in seven outings — and Jarrod Bowen on the break.
Summerville is already said to be attracting major summer interest, at least according to Fabrizio Romano, but that is a problem for later in the year.
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Mateus Fernandes will need to drive from midfield, while Taty Castellanos will likely lead the line and hold the ball up. It can work. It has worked, but it requires all Nuno's star men available.
Which is precisely why news surfacing from The Athletic this week delivers a serious gut punch to West Ham's survival push.
West Ham without Pablo for several weeks with timeline revealed
The club are dealing with a significant injury setback — one that stretches well beyond Saturday.
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According to The Athletic, Pablo is facing four to six weeks out with a calf problem.
The Brazilian has already missed the Burton cup tie, and the timeframe suggests he is expected to be absent for the home game against Bournemouth, the trip to Liverpool, the away fixture at Fulham and the visit of title-chasing City to the London Stadium, not to mention the FA Cup fifth-round tie at home to Brentford.
In short, West Ham's most important month of the season will be spent without him.
Pablo arrived in January with the hallmarks of a player capable of transforming the Hammers' midfield — a dynamic, technically gifted operator who offered something different to what the squad already had.
Nuno Espirito Santo manager of West Ham United
The 22-year-old also arrived off the back of 10 goals in 13 league appearances for Gil Vicente, and endeared himself to the Irons faithful with his relentless work rate.
The 'popular' star's injury comes at precisely the moment his influence was expected to grow, and Nuno now faces the prospect of navigating five enormous fixtures without one of his key men.
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