West Ham travel to the Den to face Millwall in the first Dockers Derby in fourteen tomorrow afternoon.
Depending on how you see it, either this or the return fixture is going to be the biggest and most important game both teams are going to play this season.
It’s known as the fiercest derby in England for a reason, and it’s the first one in over a decade, so it’s crucial for both sets of fans. The atmosphere is going to show that tomorrow lunchtime.
It raises the question. Are West Ham going to be able to cope? We haven’t had this game in so long, and equally, neither have they. But with the Lions being at home, it’s going to be the Hammers that are more intimidated by the atmosphere and occasion, if anything,
Two Hammers players I could see the magnitude of the game getting to are Mads Hermansen and Maximillian Kilman. This may be harsh, but their pasts as Hammers players need to be considered coming into this one.
While he has improved a lot, Mads Hermansen has always been a bit shaky from corners due to his lack of real presence in his own penalty box. This is going to be something the Lions really target with the likes of Jake Cooper and Lyndon Dykes in the box.
This could also be a problem for Max Kilman, who might also struggle from open play. We’ve seen him play excellently this season; he seems to be rebuilding his confidence, and I’m worried a game like this against a striker like Dykes could be too much for him.
While I expect that Nuno has considered this, I do think he will remain faithful to the players that have performed for him so far this season.
Kilman has been our best defender so far this term, and despite coming in for criticism so far at times, Mads Hermansen is crucial in the way we’ve been playing in terms of starting attacks.
While I am worried, I do have faith that both of these players will hold their nerve and show Millwall how much better we are than them.
