West Ham face Fulham in the Carabao Cup tomorrow before the big one vs Millwall on Saturday.
The Hammers, like every other team in the EFL, have had a lot of fixture congestion over the past few weeks, and with the big one against Millwall on Saturday, the last thing we wanted was another game on Tuesday.
However, as extra fixtures come, this is a good one for West Ham United.
The club’s main focus this season is the Championship; we want to win the League title, or at worst get any form of promotion back to the Premier League. The Carabao Cup is just a bit of a bonus for us. Realistically, we’re not going to win it. It was good to get a couple of confidence boosts at the start of the season, but now it really isn’t important.
We face Premier League side Fulham tomorrow night, and because it’s not a priority for us, we can afford to make wholesale changes.
Not only does this mean we can rest nine or ten, or even eleven of our ‘starters’ for the derby at the Den. It also gives our rotational players and our fringe players a chance to boost their confidence in case they are needed off the bench on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Lions have to travel all the way up to Middlesbrough to face another promotion hopeful at the Riverside Stadium. They are likely going to field their strongest team from a squad that is already facing a tonne of injury issues.
So in the lead-up to the game, everything seems to be leaning towards the East Londoners, but we will see what happens at the weekend. Who will want it more? Hopefully it’s us.
