By Louis Nixon

Nuno has made some drastic calls for the starting squad as he decides to drop Wilson for the third game running whilst also opting for a youth based bench. 

Callum Wilson is forced to sit on the bench once again as we opt for the front three of Bowen, Paqueta and Summerville, which started against Aston Villa. It had moments of glimmer, but overall wasn’t consistent and to play the same today in a must win game could worryingly be a cause for concern. 

The other apparent starting squad decision is Max Kilman who has retained his spot after the Hammers lost 3-0 to Manchester City and he was hailed as one of the poorer performers on the pitch, he lined up alongside the improved Todibo, who has found some form since the arrival of Nuno in the club. 

The worry of Ollie Scarles not being available for Saturday is out the window as he also retains his starting spot, alongside Walker-Peters who’s now stepping in for Wan-Bissaka who’s currently at AFCON, but Mayers who came on for Scarles against Manchester City, is amongst the few youth players who are involved within the squad, the other being Golambeckis, Kante and George Earthy, who recently has had links away after not being included, so it’s nice to see him return to the Matchday squad after his surge of injury problems. 

An expected midfield three of Potts, Magassa and Fernandes start against Fulham which is great to see that they’ve persistently been the stars of the previous results and tend to be what keep the Hammers in the game, a good decision by Nuno. 

Overall, an anticipated squad by Nuno but the underlying feeling of worry in the decision as Wilson has been benched again despite the lack of our attacking capabilities against Manchester City, and Max Kilman gets the nod over Mavropanos. 

It’s good to see Golambeckis, Earthy and Mayers be included seeing as they’ve been the recent starts of our academy, and in an ideal world, they’d receive some minutes on the pitch today.

A handful of interesting calls but whether they are the right ones or not, will be determined after 90 minutes in such a crucial game this season.