Who to watch out for in West Ham squad ahead of Fulham clash

Fulham’s season continues at the London Stadium in the third round of the Carabao Cup against a West Ham side who are flying in the Championship.

The Cottagers finally picked up their first Premier League point with a 0-0 draw against Liverpool at Anfield, and now they return to the cup, where they will hope to advance to the fourth round.

But, with Fulham sitting 18th in the Premier League and West Ham atop the Championship table, the gap between the two sides is just three places in the English football league pyramid.

The Irons have found their run of form in staggering style and now are in a position where it seems impossible they will not make an immediate return to the Premier League next season.

A 6-0 win over Wrexham in their last match on Friday showed their form and showed just what Fulham need to be wary of on Tuesday night.

But, ahead of such an important match, who do Fulham need to look out for in the West Ham team?

No prizes for guessing that West Ham’s captain and talisman Jarrod Bowen makes this list but that is exactly the case.

Bowen could have easily left West Ham in the summer and gone to join almost any Premier League club that he wanted to.

But he elected not to, instead choosing to stay loyal to West Ham, with his father-in-law I am sure having absolutely nothing to do with that.

In all seriousness though, Bowen may well be the best player the Championship has ever seen and he has hit the ground running this campaign.

The right winger has six goals and four assists this season in nine games across the Championship and Carabao Cup.

He has scored in both of the last two matches against Bolton and Wrexham and also scored against Portsmouth and Southampton in the first and second rounds of the cup.

To say he is in form is an understatement and Fulham will need to keep their wits about them with Bowen.

Bowen may sit third for both goals scored and assists in the Championship, but Joel Piroe is not too far behind him in the goalscoring stakes at least.

Three goals from the Suriname forward this season see him sit fifth in the Championship, and the Leeds loanee has scored in three of the four matches he has started in the second flight.

In the Carabao Cup, he also started against Southampton, and while he did not score, his presence is clear, and he will be someone to watch out for on Tuesday for the Cottagers.

When recommending a centre-back, you may think that is down to his defensive capabilities.

Well, Mavropanos is surely a Premier League-level defender in his own right but it is actually his goal-scoring threat that sees him make this list.

Mavropanos has now scored three goals in the last four matches, all coming in the Championship and all in West Ham’s run of four straight wins.

They have also kept two straight clean sheets, and so if he is selected, he will offer more threat for Fulham to watch out for.