IT IS ironic that [West Ham United](https://www.claretandhugh.info/aston-villa-v-west-ham-preview-team-news-predicted-line-ups/) head to Villa Park with such a shortage of options to lead their attack just at the time when the need to win games has risen to its highest.
Single points won’t hack it as the Hammers search for goals to climb out of the relegation zone ahead of the run in: Chances to overtake ‘Forest or Tottenham may evaporate after the International break.
**Crysencio Summerville** is injured as every Hammers fan knows only too well and the option Nuno demanded – **Adama Traore** – has proved himself unable to provide assists or goal threat.
How Nuno must wish he’d kept Luis Guilherme around the squad at a time when West Ham desperately need a winger.
Having flogged the club’s two highest-value players who could play on the left – **Kudus and Paquetá** – (_no criticism in those players leaving – just wish there’d been more succession planning_) the Hammers now reap the consequences of under investment in their attacking options without a decent ‘spare’ option on the left.
Guilherme did at least show the odd spark and at least he’d have been a pacy player to bring off the bench.
_Kudus, Paqueta and Guilherme – all sold, all could play as left sided players. None replaced._
Instead of which Nuno now has to juggle a striker, a number ten and a right-sided winger to try and find a goal threat to take the game to Aston Villa today.
He’s been roundly criticised for experimenting in the past so nobody is expecting anything radical: The best fans can hope for is perhaps a **Tomas Soucek** late run into the ‘box and a **Jarrod Bowen** return to goalscoring form.
Scoring enough goals to beat ‘Villa appears on paper something of a forlorn hope. Nuno appears to have fixed the leaky defence but with the resources at his disposal he’ll need a magic wand to breathe new life into the attacking options available against the league’s fourth-placed side.