West Ham United host Premier League side Fulham tonight in the Carabao Cup.
Just three places separate the Hammers and the Cottagers, as top of the Championship and 18th in the Premier League battle it out for a place in the fourth round of the League Cup.
We are all expecting West Ham to make a lot of changes, with promotion the clear priority for us this season, and with Fulham in desperate need of a win on the board in the League, they too might rest players.
Despite Fulham still being a Premier League team, apart from a couple of positions, I don’t think their ‘back-up’ players are a lot better than ours, so if both teams heavily rotate, I really think we can beat them.
However, with just one more match before the huge three-week-long international break after this one, there is a possibility for both sides to put out a strong, or potentially even their strongest elevens.
If that happens, I still really believe we have the quality and the form to go toe-to-toe with them. With the form we’re in and the quality of players that remained with us after relegation, and the poor form they’re in despite picking up a point at Anfield at the weekend, I actually think I would put us as favourites for this one.
Obviously, that could all change when the lineups are announced, but I do think this is going to be a really close cup tie between Arbeloa and Espírito Santo’s teams despite being in different leagues.
